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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation- 


http://www.archive.org/details/buildingofalpsOObonnrich 


J^rom  a  photo  by] 


[Mr.  7.  y.  Lister,  F.R.S. 


I.      CRAGS   OF  THE   GALENSTOCK. 


Frcntispiece. 


THE   BUILDING   OF  THE   ALPS 


THE    BUILDING 
OF    THE     ALPS 


Bv    T.    G.     BONNEY 

Sc.D.,  F.R.S.,  Hon,  LL.D.  Montreal,  Hon.  D.Sc.  Duel.  &  Sheff. 

EMERITUS    PROFESSOR    OF   GEOLOGY,    UNIVERSITY   COLLEGE, 
LONDON,    HON.    CANON    OF    MANCHESTER,    FELLOW    OF 

ST.  John's  college,  Cambridge,  past  president 

OF    THE    BRITISH    ASSOCIATION,    THE 

geological    SOCIETY    AND    THE 

ALPINE    CLUB 


WITH   48   ILLUSTRATIONS 


T.  FISHER  UNWIN 
LONDON  :  ADELPHI  TERRACE 
LEIPSIC:  INSELSTRASSE  20 


First  Editiofij  igi2. 
Second  Impression^  1913. 


(i4//  rf^A/s  reserved,) 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  to  some  extent  written  on  the  lines  of 
one  entitled  '*  The  Alpine  Regions  of  Switzerland  and 
the  Neighbouring  Countries,"  published  in  1868,  which 
has  long  been  out  of  print.  But  it  dwells  much  more 
on  the  physical  and  geological  history  of  the  chain 
than  at  that  time  was  possible,  and  it  embodies 
the  results  of  special  work  on  this  subject  in  which  I 
became  engaged  during  the  next  decade.  It  deals 
with  several  controversial  questions,  on  some  of  which 
I  have  not  hesitated  to  express  opinions  adverse  to 
those  maintained  by  other  workers,  most  of  whom 
can  be  in  a  part  of  the  Alps  without  leaving  their 
fatherland.  My  excuse  for  this  audacity,  as  some 
may  think  it,  must  be  that,  as  explained  in  Appendix  I, 
I  have  done  what  I  could  to  see  things  for  myself  in 
the  years,  numbering  more  than  forty,  during  which 
Alpine  climbing  has  gradually  yielded  place  to  Alpine 
geology. 

I  have  tried,  as  far  as  possible,  to  avoid  technical 
terms,  though  these  are  sometimes  necessary,  and  I  have 
not  attempted  minute  research  in  Alpine  literature, 
now  become  very  large,  but  1  have  endeavoured  to 
write  from  the  point  of  view  of  one  who  is  a  lover  of 
the  Alps,  is  somewhat  of  a  geologist,  and  a  little  of  a 
naturalist.  I  cannot  hope  to  have  avoided  mistakes  ; 
for,  if  we  are  fallible  mortals  even  in  the  days  of  our 

5 

260833 


Preface 

youth,  sad  experience  teaches  us  that,  after  a  certain 
age,  accuracy  is  very  apt  to  diminish  as  our  years 
increase,  and  the  changes  that  have  been  made  in 
the  spelling  of  names  and  in  the  heights  assigned  to 
"Peaks  and  Passes"  are  very  confusing  to  the 
memory.  Such  mistakes  would  have  been  more 
numerous  were  it  not  for  the  kindness  of  my  friend 
Mr.  R.  H.  Rastall,  F.G.S.,  Fellow  of  Christ's  College 
in  this  University,  who  has  read  the  proofs  and 
given  me  the  benefit  of  his  criticisms  and  corrections. 
I  am  also  deeply  indebted  to  Dr.  W.  A.  B.  Coolidge, 
whose  topographical  and  historical  knowledge  of  the 
Alps  is  unsurpassed,  for  permitting  me  to  use  some 
of  the  information  embodied  in  his  masterly  work, 
*'The  Alps  in  Nature  and  History."  My  thanks  also 
are  heartily  tendered  to  those  who,  as  mentioned  in 
detail  in  Appendix  II,  have  supplied  me  with  photo- 
graphs or  permitted  me  to  use  illustrations  which  have 
already  appeared  in  other  works. 

It  may  be  that  I  have  looked  my  last  on  the  Alps. 
The  irksomeness  of  railway  journeys  is  greater,  the 
miles  are  longer,  and  the  mountains  steeper  than  they 
used  to  be,  but  I  owe  them  a  debt  of  gratitude  for 
gifts  of  health  and  strength  to  body  and  mind,  and  for 
many  a  happy  hour. 

Cambridge,  April,  191 2. 


CHAP, 

II. 
III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 
VII. 
VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 


PAGE 

II 


CONTENTS 

GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ALPINE  ROCKS       . 
MATERIALS  OF  THE  ALPS,  THEIR  NATURE  AND  ORIGIN        .     27 
HOW  THE  ALPS  GREW     .  .  .  .  .  .71 

MOUNTAIN   FORMS  .  .  .  .  .  .88 

SNOWFIELDS  AND  GLACIERS  IN  THE  ALPS       .  .  .   I03 

THE  MAKING  AND  MOVEMENT  OF  GLACIERS  .  .  .   I32 

THE  MAKING  OF  THE  PEAKS  AND  VALLEYS  OF  THE  ALPS   .    I  $2 
THE  WORK  OF  RAIN  AND  UNDERGROUND  WATER      .  .  203 

AVALANCHES  AND   FLOODS  .  .  .  .  •   219 

ALPINE  METEOROLOGY    .  .  .  .  •  .234 

THE  VEGETATION  OF  THE  ALPS  .  .  .  .255 

WILD  ANIMALS  OF   THE  ALPS    .....   276 

THE  ALPS  IN  RELATION  TO  MAN  .  ,  .  .308 

FIFTY  YEARS  OF  CHANGE  .  .  .  .  .  340 

APPENDICES   I.   AND  II.  .....   375 

INDEX        .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .381 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


FULL-PAGE   ILLUSTRATIONS 


1.  CRAGS  OF  THE  GALENSTOCK 

2.  MONT  BLANC  AND  AIGUILLES  DES  CHARMOZ    . 

3.  DOLOMITE  PEAKS   FROM  THE  MARMOLATA 

4.  VIEW  FROM   FROPPA  GLACIER,  MARMAROLA      . 

5.  NORTHERN  SIDE  OF  AIGUILLES  DES  CHARMOZ 

6.  THE  WETTERHORN   FROM  NEAR  GRINDELWALD 

7.  THE  CINQUE  TORRE 

8.  THE  DREI  ZINNEN 

9.  BERGSCHRUND  OF  A  GLACIER      . 

10.  UPPER  SNOWFIELDS  OF  THE  ORTLER     . 

11.  ICEFALL  OF  THE  RHONE  GLACIER 

12.  MORAINES  OF  OBER  ALETSCH  GLACIER 

13.  GORGE  OF  THE  TRIENT    . 

14.  CREVASSES  ON  A  GLACIER 

15.  MORAINES  OF  GROSS  ALETSCH  GLACIER 

16.  A  GLACIER  TABLE 

17.  PIERRE-A-BOT,   NEAR  NEUCHATEL 

18.  DIRT-BANDS  ON  A  GLACIER,   MER  DE  GLACE 

19.  THE  GLACIER  GARDEN,   LUCERNE 

20.  END  OF  PRE  DE  BAR  GLACIER    . 

21.  VIEW  DOWN  THE  SAASTHAL 

22.  ICE-WORN  ROCKS,  NEAR  THE  GRIMSEL 

23.  LAGO  RITOM  .... 

24.  VAL  TOURNANCHE,  UPPERMOST  PART    . 
25  AVALANCHE  ON  THE  WETTERHORN 

9 


Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 
.       16 

.   22 

.   42 

.   56 

.   82 

.   90 

.  100 

.  106 

.  IIO 

.  112 

.  114 

.  124 

•  134 
.  140 
.  142 
.  144 
.  146 
.  148 
.  150 
.  186 
.  188 
.  194 
.  202 
.  222 


List  of  Illustrations 


26.  THE   MARJELEN  SEE 

27.  ST.  CYPRIAN  AND  THE  ROSENGARTEN  GROUP 

28.  A  STREET  IN  ZERMATT     . 

29.  BEFORE  THE  HOTEL  MONT  ROSE,   ZERMATT 

30.  ON  A  SNOW  ARETE 

31.  A  MOUNTAIN   HUT—OUTSIDE  AND   INSIDE 

32.  ON  STEEP  ROCKS   .... 


PAGE 
.    230 

.  266 

•  336 

•  352 
.  358 
.  364 
.  368 


FIG. 
I. 

2. 

3- 
4. 

5- 
6. 

7. 
8. 

9. 
10. 
II. 
12. 

13- 
14. 

15. 
16. 


LAKE 


FIGURES   IN  THE  TEXT  . 

SECTION   AT   ALTKIRCHE       . 

SECTION    IN    VAL   CANARIA 

INTERPRETATION   OF   SECTION    IN    VAL   CANARIA 

THRUST      PLANE        IN        MOUNTAINS        SOUTH        OF 
WALLENSTADT    (rOTHPLETZ) 

SECTION    NEAR    LA   GRAVE  . 

BEDDING    AND    JOINTS     IN     DACHSTEIN     DOLOMITE     (dREI 

zinnen)  .... 

DOLOMITE   MASS   IN   RUINS   (CORTINA    DISTRICT) 
CREVASSES   ON    A   GLACIER. 
THE   END   OF   A   GLACIER      . 

PEAKS   CARVED    FROM    FOLDED    ROCKS    (LIMESTONE) 
SMALL   CIRQUE   NEAR    ENGELBERG  . 
EASTERN   CIRQUE   BENEATH   THE   URI   ROTHSTOCK 
CONTORTED  QUARTZ-MICA-SCHIST    . 
CHAMOIS      ..... 
BOUQUETIN  .... 

CHALET   VILLAGE,  WITH    THE   SASSO   DI    PELMO,  DOLOMITES 


62 
63 
65 

81 
83 

99 

lOI 

139 
151 
165 
183 
184 
202 
281 
288 
333 


For  permission  to  use  Figures  1-3,  5,  11-13  I  have  to  thank  the 
Council  of  the  Geological  Society  of  London ;  for  Figure  4  (from 
Lake  and  Rastall's  "  Text-book  of  Geology  "),  Mr.  Edward  Arnold  ; 
for  Figures  6-10,  14-16  (woodcuts  by  the  late  Edward  Whymper 
illustrating  **  The  Alpine  Regions  "),  Messrs.  G.  Bell  and  Sons,  Ltd. 

10 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

CHAPTER   I 

GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ALPINE   ROCKS 

The  rocks  composing  the  Alps,  like  those  of  most 
important  mountain  chains,  can  be  divided  into  two 
great  groups — the  one  obviously  sedimentary,  the 
other  of  more  uncertain  origin.  The  former  may  be 
subdivided  into  a  series  of  limestones  and  shales  or 
slates,  which  have  partaken  of  the  two  great  earth 
movements  that  gave  birth  to  the  existing  chain,  and  a 
set  of  pebble  beds  and  rather  soft  sandstones,  which 
have  shared  only  in  one  of  them.  The  latter  group 
is  also  capable  of  subdivision,  but  is  throughout 
crystalline  in  structure.  Some  of  its  members  have 
undoubtedly  cooled  down  from  a  state  of  fusion  ;  others 
must  be  sediments,  the  constituents  of  which  have 
undergone  important  changes ;  while  of  others  the 
origin  is  still  a  matter  of  dispute,  to  which  we  must 
presently  refer.      Such  are  the  gneisses  and  schists,^ 

^  In  compliance  with  the  principle  enunciated  by  the  late  J.  B. 
Jukes,  I  invariably  restrict  the  term  "  schist "  to  foliated  rocks,  /.^,, 
those  which,  whatever  their  origin,  are  in  a  crystalline  condition 
and  exhibit  a  parallel  ordering  of  their  constituents.  The  lax  use 
of  the  term  ^'schist"  by  some  English  geologists,  of  ^^ schiste'^  by 
French,  and  ^'schiefer"  by  German  has,  in  my  opinion,  been  a 
fruitful  source  of  error. 

II 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

all  of  which  exhibit  more  or  less  clearly  the  structure 
called  foliation  ;  namely,  a  roughly  parallel  arrange- 
ment of  the  more  conspicuous  minerals,  especially 
of  those  which,  like  mica,  are  rather  leaf-like  in  form. 

The  higher  peaks  and  more  prominent  ridges — 
the  backbones  of  the  greater  ranges — consist  of 
crystalline  rocks ;  for  even  where  these  may  not  be 
actually  visible,  there  is  always  good  reason  for 
believing  them  to  be  the  foundations  upon  which 
the  sedimentary  rocks  are  resting.  Only  once  do 
the  latter  attain  an  elevation  of  13,000  feet — in  the 
limestone  peak  of  the  Eiger,  which  slightly  exceeds 
that  altitude — and  very  few  rise  above  12,000  feet; 
the  majority  of  the  more  conspicuous  of  these  summits 
ranging  between  that  height  and  10,000  feet.  But 
the  culminating  summits  of  Dauphin^,  the  Tarentaise, 
and  the  Maurienne,  of  the  Pennines,  from  Mont 
Blanc  to  their  eastern  boundary,  of  the  Oberland, 
the  Bernina,  and  the  Central  Tyrol,  all  consist  of 
crystalline  rocks.  They  rise  above  15,000  feet  in 
Mont  Blanc  and  Monte  Rosa ;  in  nine  other  peaks 
they  exceed  14,000  feet,  while  quite  a  large  number 
surpass  the  highest  limit  of  the  sedimentaries. 

We  must  now  discuss  at  more  length  the  origin 
of  these  crystalline  rocks,  and  their  geological  age 
— namely,  whether  (with  the  exception  of  a  few  com- 
paratively small  intrusions  of  ordinary  igneous  rocks) 
all  of  them  are  older  than  the  sedimentary  groups, 
or  whether  they  may  sometimes  represent  members 
of  the  latter,  so  much  altered  in  aspect  and  constitu- 
tion as  to  be  practically  unrecognisable.  At  first 
these  crystalline  rocks,  in  most  of  the  great  ranges, 
appear,  when  allowance    is   made  for   the  results  of 

12 


Geographical  Distribution  of  Alpine  Rocks 

later  disturbances,  to  exhibit  a  more  or  less  pro- 
gressive change  and  an  increasing  definition  of 
character.  For  example,  the  central  peaks  of  the 
Dauphine  Alps,  the  Mont  Blanc  range,  with  some 
other  parts  of  the  Pennines,  and  of  the  Oberland, 
consist  of  a  rock  generally  not  very  conspicuously 
foliated  and  bearing  considerable  resemblance  to  a 
granite.  It  is  usually  rather  coarse  in  texture,  and 
sometimes  also  porphyritic  in  structure,  containing 
large  crystals  of  felspar,  which,  however,  are  generally 
more  rounded  in  outline  than  in  a  normal  granite. 
By  the  earlier  geologists  this  was  supposed  to  be 
a  rock  which  had  not  cooled  down  from  a  state  of 
ordinary  fusion,  but  had  been  precipitated  from  a 
menstruum — a  kind  of  world-porridge — with  which 
our  globe  was  surrounded,  when  the  temperature  of 
the  incandescent  mass  had  fallen  low  enough  to  allow 
water  to  condense  upon  its  surface.^  From  this 
menstruum,  first  the  gneisses,  then  the  other  foliated 
rocks,  were  believed  to  have  been  deposited ;  these, 
as  its  temperature  fell,  gradually  presenting  more 
resemblance  to  ordinary  sediments.  To  the  group 
of  granitoid  gneisses  the  name  of  protogine,  or  *'  first- 
born," was  given.  This,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  is 
a  misnomer,  but  that  the  group  often  occupies  a  central 
position  in  the  range  is  a  fact.  In  apparent  succession 
to  it,  we  find  another  large  group  of  gneisses,  which, 
though   frequently   composed   of  the   same   minerals 

*  They  also  supposed  that  it  differed  from  a  granite  in  the 
substitution  of  talc  for  mica  as  its  third  principal  mineral.  It 
has,  however,  long  been  known  that  this  is  not  talc,  but  only 
an  altered  form  of  mica,  so  that  there  is  no  real  difference  in 
the  mineral  composition  of  the  two  rocks. 

13 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

as  ordinary  granite,  contain  them  in  varying  pro- 
portions, are  often  rather  conspicuously  foliated, 
and  exhibit  more  or  less  of  a  banded  structure. 
Occasionally  they  become  so  micaceous  as  to  deserve 
the  name  of  mica-schists.  In  some  places  they  seem 
to  pass  upwards  into  rather  saccharoidal  and  friable 
gneisses,  with  well-marked  alternating  bands,  the 
one  rich  in  quartz  with  felspar,  the  other  in  mica 
(mostly  dark)  ;  or  into  gneisses  where,  as  at  the  St. 
Gotthard,  the  rock  is  rather  stronger,  the  banding  less 
marked,  but  red  garnets  and  elongated  hornblendes 
are  conspicuous.  Last  of  all  comes  a  very  variable 
group  of  schists,  often  conspicuously  foliated.  In 
these,  beds  of  mica-schist,  quartz-schist,  and  crystal- 
line limestone  alternate,  just  like  shales,  sandstones 
and  limestones  among  the  ordinary  sedimentaries, 
and  exhibit,  as  in  the  latter  case,  a  number  of  trans- 
itional forms.  With  these  are  associated,  but  more 
sporadically,  serpentines,  and  a  quantity  of  peculiar 
hornblendic  and  chloritic  rocks,  most,  if  not  all  of 
which,  were  once  dolerites  or  basalts — the  Griiner- 
schiefevy  or  **  green  schists,"  of  Continental  geologists. 
Rocks  of  a  generally  similar  origin  may  also  be 
found  among  the  first-named  group,  but  they  are 
generally  coarser  in  structure,  and  more  like  ordinary 
diorites,  from  which  they  chiefly  differ  in  showing  some 
amount  of  foliation. 

Before  discussing  this  apparent  succession,  we  must 
enlarge  a  little  on  the  origin  of  foliation,  which,  as 
has  been  said,  may  or  may  not  be  associated  with 
a  distincdy  alternating  mineral  banding.  Most 
geologists  now  maintain  that  these  structures  have 
not   always    had   the   same   origin.      They   may   be 


Geographical  Distribution  of  Alpine  Rocks 

the  result  of  movements — a  kind  of  flow — in  a 
molten  magma,  which,  however,  had  already  either 
separated  into  portions  differing  to  some  extent  in 
chemical  composition,  or  had  begun  to  crystallize. 
Thus  the  former  is  analogous  to  the  flow  structure 
which  is  often  exhibited  by  certain  lavas,  and  the 
latter  is  occasionally  found  in  some  coarsely  crystalline 
rocks,  which  were  undoubtedly  once  in  a  molten  con- 
dition. But  gneisses  may  also  be  the  result  of 
movements  of  another  kind.  Pressure  produces  on 
rocks  which  were  once  deposited  as  clays  a  structure 
called  cleavage,  that  is,  the  property  of  splitting  along 
planes,  which  have  no  necessary  connection  with 
their  original  bedding.  That  has  long  been  known, 
and  this  mechanical  rearrangement  is  sometimes 
accompanied  by  a  certain  amount  of  chemical  change, 
which  is  shown  by  the  development  of  sundry  new 
minerals,  often  very  minute  but  in  large  quantities. 
Of  these  a  mica  is  the  most  common,  and  where  it  is 
abundant  the  slate  assumes  a  peculiar  silky  lustre, 
and  is  called  a  phyllite.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  infantine 
mica-schist.  But  pressure  also  has  notable  effects 
on  crystalline  rocks,  by  producing  a  rude  cleavage 
and  a  development  of  secondary  minerals,  chiefly  on 
its  surface.  This  also  is  a  kind  of  foliation,  but  as 
it  is  a  comparatively  modern  discovery,  and  there  is 
now  perhaps  some  tendency  to  exaggerate  the  effects 
of  pressure-metamorphism,  or  dynamo-metamorphism 
as  some  call  it,  we  may  avert  future  misconcep- 
tions by  giving  a  description  of  the  process.  Let 
us  take,  as  an  example,  a  porphyritic  granite,  such 
as  might  be  found  in  parts  of  Devonshire  or  Corn- 
wall, and   suppose  it   to   be   exposed   to  a   pressure 

IS 


The   Building   of  the  Alps 

increasing  gradually  in  strength.  First  the  angles 
of  these  isolated  felspar  crystals  are  broken  off,  while 
the  smaller  ones  in  the  matrix  are  more  or  less 
crushed.  So  also  is  the  quartz,  and  the  mica  is 
often  torn.  A  rude  cleavage  is  thus  produced,  as  it 
might  be  in  a  quartz-felspar  grit ;  and  as  this  structure 
gives  easy  access  to  water,  new  minerals  are  deve- 
loped, the  comminuted  felspar  breaking  up  into  a 
potash  or  soda  mica  and  free  quartz,  both  much  smaller 
than  those  in  the  original  rock.  Thus  the  ultimate 
result  of  the  pressure  is  a  foliation,  and  the  granite 
has  become  a  gneiss.  The  more  or  less  rectangular 
porphyritic  felspar  crystals,  when  present,  assume  an 
oval  outline,  something  like  eyes,  from  which  German 
geologists  have  called  this  rock  an  augen-gneiss 
(eyed-gneiss.)  As  the  pressure  is  continued  these 
eyes  are  gradually  flattened  and  elongated,  the  other 
minerals  are  comminuted  and  drawn  out,  especially 
if,  as  is  very  commonly  the  case,  the  crushing  is 
associated  with  a  certain  amount  of  shearing,  so  that 
a  fine-grained,  linear-streaked  gneiss  is  formed,  as 
if  the  rock  had  once  been  stratified.  In  the  last 
stage  of  all,  often  to  be  found  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  a  fault,  the  felspar  is  replaced  by  mica  and  minute 
quartz,  and  the  gneiss  is  converted  into  a  fine-grained 
fissile  mica-schist.  Basic  rocks,  such  as  dolerite  and 
basalt,  are  also  rendered  more  or  less  fissile  and 
undergo   analogous   changes, '    but    here   the    augitic 

^  I  think,  however,  they  resist  rather  better  than  the  granitic 
rocks,  and  that  the  only  change  (which  may  be  anterior  to  any 
crushing)  may  be  the  replacement  of  the  augitic  by  a  hornblendic 
constituent,  and  I  have  little  doubt  that  many  granular  hornblende 
schists  owe  their  structure  to  movements  anterior,  not  posterior,  to 
consolidation. 

i6 


From  a  photo  by'\  [Mr.  Samuel  Turner,  F.R.G.S. 

2.      MONT   BLANC   AND   AIGUILLES   DES   CHARMOZ. 


iTo  face  p.  i6. 


Geographical  Distribution  of  Alpine  Rocks 

constituent  is  almost  invariably  changed  into  a  needle- 
like form  of  hornblende.  The  felspar,  however, 
seems  to  be  less  readily  converted  into  white  mica 
and  quartz,  and  either  remains  unaltered  or  is  re- 
placed by  a  new  felspar  rather  different  in  chemical 
composition.  These  features,  which  can  be  observed 
in  rocks  certainly  intrusive,  also  characterise  the 
GTHlner-schiefer,  the  larger  masses  of  which,  when 
mapped,  often  suggest  by  their  outlines  a  similar 
origin.  I 

Pressure  also  produces  a  somewhat  similar  effect 
on  the  more  banded  gneisses  and  the  schists.  The 
crushing,  however,  is  often  not  quite  so  marked  as  in 
the  rocks  we  have  been  discussing.  A  banded  gneiss 
often  retains  that  structure,  and  if  the  direction  of 
the  pressure  happens,  as  is  not  seldom  the  case,  to 
have  been  at  right-angles  to  it,  the  rock  simply 
becomes  rather  more  easily  broken  in  the  direction 
of  the  bands,  owing  to  the  development  along  their 
surface  of  a  filmy  white  mica.  If,  however,  the  line 
of  pressure  makes  a  high  angle  with  the  normal  to 
the  bands,  these  have  been  puckered  and  folded,  and 
the  rock  at  last  has  been  affected  by  a  cleavage 
on  the  surface  of  which  the  usual  secondary  mica 
is  produced  Similar  results  are  manifest  in  the 
various  schists  of  crystalline  origin.  In  these  the 
original  foliation,  due  to  stratification,  either  is  inten- 
sified or  becomes  puckered,  and  a  cleavage  foliation 
is  set  up.  So  far  is  this  carried  in  some  cases,  where 
the  rock  is  not  very  strongly  banded  and  is  rather 
liable    to   fracture,    that    the   original   structures   are 

^  It  is,   of  course,  possible  that  locally  they   may   have   been 
originally  basaltic  lavas  and  tuffs- 

17  B 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

effaced  and  the  rock  splits  into  plates  hardly  thicker 
than  stout  millboard. 

All  the  members  of  this  group  had  assumed  a 
crystalline  condition,  were  metamorphic  rocks  in  the 
strictest  sense  of  that  term,  long  before  the  effects 
just  mentioned  were  produced  by  the  crumpling 
of  the  earth's  crust  into  mountain  ranges.  In  their 
metamorphosis  pressure,  due  to  the  weight  of  over- 
lying strata,  was  no  doubt  one  factor ;  water  was 
another ;  but  a  long-continued  elevation  of  tem- 
perature was,  we  may  reasonably  believe,  even  more 
important.  Their  combined  action  set  up  mole- 
cular rearrangements ;  in  many  cases  it  developed 
new  minerals  :  it  converted  the  muddy  sand  into  a 
micaceous  quartz  -schist ;  it  gave  birth  locally  to 
garnets,  staurolites,  kyanites,  and  other  minerals, 
so  that  the  original  constituents  can  be  distin- 
guished only  in  one  or  two  exceptional  cases  where 
actual  pebbles  have  been  present. 

At  one  time  most  geologists  supposed  that  the 
gneisses  were  also  metamorphosed  sediments,  and 
some  of  them  even  went  so  far  as  to  maintain  that 
granite  itself  was  not  a  true  igneous  rock,  but  the  last 
stage  of  all  in  the  process  of  metamorphism.  That, 
however,  is  now  relegated  to  the  limbo  of  discarded 
hypotheses,  though  whether  it  will  be  allowed  to  rest 
there  in  peace  is  perhaps  doubtful.  Certain  con- 
troversies, not  in  geology  only,  have  a  habit  of 
recrudescence,  and  as  an  element  of  truth  is  some- 
times present  even  in  such  hypotheses,  it  makes 
them  sufficiently  plausible  to  be  attractive  to  the 
unwary.  Still,  at  the  present  moment,  we  cannot 
be  certain  about  the  origin  of  all  gneisses.     A  large 

i8 


Geographical  Distribution  of  Alpine  Rocks 

number  undoubtedly  were  once  granitic  rocks,  in 
some  of  which  the  foliation  is  original,  the  result  of 
fluxional  movements ;  in  others  it  has  been  acquired 
by  subsequent  pressure.  That  is  undoubtedly  the 
history  of  the  Alpine  augen-gneiss,  for  in  places 
where  examination  of  junctions  is  possible,  its  masses 
are  clearly  intrusive  in  the  associated  gneisses 
or  schists.  The  ordinary  Alpine  gneisses — those 
generally  fairly  strong,  not  very  conspicuously 
banded,  or  exhibiting  any  very  notable  structure — 
a  great  thickness  of  which  often  appears  to  over- 
lie the  augen-gneisses  or  protogines — may  also  be,  at 
any  rate  in  most  cases,  igneous  rocks,  though  earlier 
than  them  ;  but  when  we  come  to  those  which  are 
more  banded,  a  little  finer  in  grain  and  rather  more 
friable,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult,  in  the  present  state  of 
knowledge,  to  arrive  at  a  conclusion.  Their  structure 
may  be  due,  as  in  some  of  the  Laurentian  rocks  of 
Canada  and  the  Lewisian  in  North-west  Britain,  to 
fluxional  movements,  or  it  may  be  explained  on  the 
hypothesis  of  a  lit  par  lit  injection,^  though  I  think 
this  could  only  occur  under  special  circumstances 
and  over  a  rather  restricted  area,  while  such  gneisses 
often  extend  for  a  considerable  distance.  Again,  they 
may  be  metamorphosed  sediments,  like  the  group 
overlying  them.  The  alternation  of  bands,  differing 
considerably  in  mineral  characters — much  resembles 
that  of  the  quartzose  and  micaceous  bands  in  some  of 
the  schists,2  and  as  in  their  case  we  need  but  assume 

^  When  a  molten  rock  has  forced  itself  (like  a  paper-knife 
between  the  leaves  of  a  book)  along  the  foliation  planes  of  a 
schist. 

*  E.g,^  in  the  Val  Piora  or  on  the  Nufenen  Pass. 

19 


The   Building   of  the  Alps 

that  the  strata  were  depressed  to  a  sufficient  distance 
beneath  the  earth's  crust  to  bring  them  into  a  zone 
of  an  adequately  high  temperature.  ^  One  difficulty, 
however,  at  present  exists  :  that,  so  far  as  I  know, 
we  do  not  find  examples  of  such  gneisses  interstratified 
among  schists  which  were  once  sediments,  and  that 
felspar  of  secondary  origin  seems  to  be  infrequent 
among  either  these  or  strata  rendered  crystalline  by 
contact  action.  Neither  have  fragments  of  another 
rock,  like  the  pebbles  in  the  quartz-schists  of  the 
Einfischthal,  ever  been  proved  to  exist,  so  far  as  I 
know,  in  a  true  gneiss.  I  have  examined  more  than 
one  asserted  case,  and  in  each  the  evidence  has  broken 
down.  2 

Between  these  crystalline  rocks,  whether  gneisses 
or  schists,  and  the  earliest  of  the  sedimentary  deposits, 
is  a  great  break,  and  even  the  oldest  of  the  latter, 
under  the  most  favourable  circumstances,  have  not 
advanced    in    metamorphism    beyond    the    stage    of 

^  A  good  many  of  the  ordinary  rock-forming  minerals  actually 
melt  at  temperatures  from  i,ioo°  C.  to  1,300°  C.,  but  in  the  presence 
of  water  they  would  dissolve  at  a  much  lower  temperature.  Very 
possibly  one  not  much  above  100°  C.  would  suffice,  given  time  and 
pressure  enough  for  the  changes  required  in  the  metamorphic  rocks. 
This  would  now  be  reached  nine  or  ten  thousand  feet  below 
the  surface,  and  at  a  considerably  less  depth  at  a  certain  early 
stage  in  the  earth's  history. 

2  I  do  not  deny  the  possibility  of  some  gneisses  being  metamor- 
phosed sediments ;  nay,  I  think  this  would  be  the  easier  explanation 
in  certain  cases ;  but,  after  having  been  brought  up  in  that  creed, 
and  having  taught  it  until  I  began  to  investigate  the  question  for 
myself,  I  have  been  vainly  searching — now  for  not  a  few  years — 
for  a  case  which  was  conclusive.  The  well-known  pebbly  upper 
gneiss  at  Obermittweida  is  not  really  a  gneiss,  and  somewhat  similar 
specimens,  from  the  southern  Highlands,  hint  at  the  existence  of  a 
break  between  the  two  sets  of  rocks. 

20 


Geographical  Distribution  of  Alpine  Rocks 

phyllite.^  The  earlier  sedimentaries,  representing 
more  than  one  period  in  the  Palaeozoic  era,  are 
rather  sporadic  and  limited  in  distribution.  Rocks 
assigned  to  the  Silurian  and  Devonian  systems  have 
been  identified  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Northern 
Tyrol ;  those  representing  the  Carboniferous  are  more 
widely  distributed.  They  occur,  for  instance,  in  more 
than  one  district  of  the  Eastern  Alps,  are  probably 
infolded  locally  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhone  from 
Brieg  to  Sion,  and  may  be  traced  from  that  river  near 
Saxon  in  a  south-westerly  direction  through  the 
Tarentaise  and  Maurienne  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
Brian^on  ;  a  narrower  strip,  sharply  infolded,  crosses 
the  same  valley  near  Vernayaz  and  may  be  traced, 
though  with  many  breaks,  to  the  west  of  Chamonix, 
through  the  French  Alps  across  the  Romanche 
towards  the  Drac.  The  formation  consists  of  slaty 
rocks  with  grits  and  breccias,  as  may  be  seen  between 
Vernayaz  and  Salvan,  and  includes  occasional  seams 
of  anthracite.  Limestones  are  rare,  but  one  which, 
at  first  sight,  resembles  a  marble  belonging  to  the 
crystalline  series,  is  quarried  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Rhone,  less  than  a  league  from  Saxon.^  Slates 
are  worked,  and  breccias  are  well  exposed  between 
Vernayaz  and  Salvan.  Fine  specimens  of  fossil  ferns 
have  been  found  not  far  from  the  Col  d'Anterne,3  but, 
as  a  rule,  organic  remains  are  few  or  absent.     The 

^  The  reason  for  this  statement,  which  is  repudiated  by  some 
geologists,  can  be  more  conveniently  given  in  a  later  part  of  this 
chapter. 

2  The  Pontiskalk,  a  less  pure  subcrystalline  limestone  crossed  on 
the  ascent  from  Sierre  to  the  Einfischhal,  may  also  belong  to  this 
period. 

3  A.  Wills,  "The  Eagle's  Nest,"  ch.  vii,  i860. 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

Permian  period  is  represented  in  the  south-eastern 
Alps  by  some  important  masses  of  igneous  rocks, 
largely  volcanic,  and  more  or  less  red  in  colour, 
which  can  be  more  conveniently  noticed  in  the  next 
chapter ;  others,  on  a  smaller  scale,  occur  on  the 
southern  margin  of  the  Alps  near  the  Piedmontese 
Plain  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lugano  and  Arona,  and 
elsewhere  sundry  isolated  outcrops  of  igneous  rocks 
are  believed  to  belong  to  the  same  period.  With  these 
are  associated  some  sedimentary  rocks,  generally  of 
limited  extent,  the  most  noteworthy  of  which  are  a  red 
sandstone,  locally  used  for  building  purposes,  ^  and  a 
variable  impure  limestone,  called  Verrucano,  which  is 
sometimes  crowded  with  angular  fragments  of  the 
older  rocks. 

But  the  Mesozoic  or  Secondary  rocks  are  far  more  ex- 
tensively developed,  and  though  sometimes  interrupted 
by  the  crystalline,  as  we  have  already  described,  may 
be  traced  throughout  the  whole  length  of  the  Alpine 
chain.  From  its  eastern  extremity  to  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Upper  Inn  Valley  they  are  well  displayed  on 
both  sides  of  the  central  crystalline  axis,  but  farther  west 
a  complication  appears  in  the  structure  of  the  chain, 
and  the  sedimentary  cover  gradually  becomes  more 
ragged  on  the  southern  side,  until  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Sesia  it  altogether  disappears.  Of  these 
Secondary  rocks  the  lowest  system — the  Trias — is  the 
most  inconstant.  In  the  Eastern  Alps  it  is  represented 
by  a  thick  series,  mostly  limestones  or  dolomites,  with 
which,  in  the  south,  some  important  igneous  rocks  are 
associated,  to  the  details  of  which  we  shall  return  ;  but 
these  do  not  occur  on  the  northern  side  of  the  central 
'  The  Grodner  Sandstein^  regarded  by  some  as  Lower  Trias. 

22 


Geographical  Distribution  of  Alpine  Rocks 

axis.  Two  of  the  dolomitic  masses  are  of  great  im- 
portance, and  they  give  rise  to  some  of  the  grandest 
scenery  in  the  south-eastern  Tyrol.  The  lower  one, 
the  Schlern,  which  is  sometimes  3,000  feet  in  thickness, 
but  the  less  widely  extended,  represents  the  upper 
part  of  the  Muschelkalk  (a  group  missing  in  Britain) 
and  the  lowest  of  the  Keuper.  Beds  of  this  age 
occur,  but  with  less  lithological  uniformity,  also  on  the 
northern  face  of  the  Alps.  The  other,  or  upper  mass, 
is  called  the  Dachstein  dolomite.  This  is  found  in  both 
the  northern  and  southern  ranges,  and  is  assigned  to 
the  epoch  of  passage  from  the  Keuper  (or  Upper 
Trias)  into  the  lower  part  of  the  Jurassic  system. ^  As 
we  proceed  westward,  the  Triassic  deposits  die  away, 
and  are  often  represented  between  the  Upper  Rhine 
and  Rhone  by  a  limestone,  which  is  frequently  soft, 
friable,  and  not  seldom  associated  with  gypsum,  is 
generally  of  no  great  thickness,  and  sometimes  alto- 
gether vanishes. 

The  Jurassic  system  is  represented  by  limestones 
associated  with  shales  or  slates.  Some  of  the  former 
are  as  thick,  strong,  and  compact  as  the  Carboniferous 
limestones  of  England  and  Ireland,  and  to  them  we 
are  indebted  for  some  of  the  most  beautiful  scenery  of 
the  Oberland.2  They  extend  across  the  Rhone  into 
Savoy,  and  continue  through  the  French  Alps  to  the 
extreme  south,  often  giving  rise  to  features  hardly  less 
impressive  than   in  the    Oberland.     Important   lime- 

^  Valuable  deposits  of  salt  occur  among  the  Triassic  beds  of  the 
Northern  Tyrol,  and  more  locally  in  Switzerland  (at  Bex)  and  in 
the  Maurienne  (at  Moutiers). 

^  Some  of  these  make  excellent  building-stone,  and  are  largely 
employed  for  masonry  and  ornamental  purposes  in  the  larger  towns. 

23 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

stones  are  also  associated  with  the  Neocomian 
(sometimes  called  the  Lower  Cretaceous)  system,  and 
with  the  Cretaceous  (or  Upper  Cretaceous),  though  in 
the  latter  they  are  often  less  pure.  In  the  Alps  the 
marked  break  which  in  Britain  separates  the  Chalk 
(the  uppermost  of  the  Secondary  deposits)  from  the 
bottom  of  the  Eocene  (the  earliest  of  the  Tertiaries) 
cannot  be  detected,  and  the  latter  do  not  include  any 
limestones  of  importance.  But  we  find,  especially  in 
the  Central  and  Western  Alps,  a  thick,  more  or  less 
slaty  deposit,  called  the  Flysch,  the  scenery  of  which, 
owing  to  its  physical  characters,  is  usually  less  bold  than 
in  the  underlying  Secondaries.  In  this  rock  fossils 
are  generally  far  from  common,  but  it  contains  some 
curious  breccias,  to  which  we  shall  again  refer,  and  it 
may  be  traced  through  the  northern  part  of  the  chain 
from  one  end  to  the  other.  It  must  represent  an  epoch 
characterised  by  similar  conditions  of  deposit,  and 
it  is  believed  by  those  who  have  specially  studied  it 
to  belong,  in  the  Central  and  Western  Alps,  to  the 
Eocene  ;  ^  though  it  may  extend,  towards  the  south, 
rather  above  the  end  of  this  period,  while  in  the 
Eastern  Alps  it  may  have  begun  during  the 
Cretaceous. 

In  Oligocene  ^  times  the  making  of  the  Alps,  as 
we  know  them,  began.  Lateral  thrusts,  apparendy 
acting  outwards  from  a  Mediterranean  which  ex- 
tended over  a  much  larger  area  than  the  present  sea, 

'  Here  it  overlies,  or  is  associated  with,  strata  containing 
Nummulites  complanatus  and  other  well-known  Eocene  fossils. 

^  This  period,  the  utility  of  which  is  not  universally  acknow- 
ledged, includes,  speaking  in  general  terms,  the  Upper  Eocene  and 
Lower  Miocene •  of  the  older  geologists. 

24 


Geographical  Distribution  of  Alpine  Rocks 

crumpled  up  the  earth's  crust  on  the  site  of  the  Alps, 
and  raised  a  mountain  chain,  which,  so  far  as  we  can 
judge,  was  developed  and  uplifted  with  comparative 
rapidity.  This  chain  must  have  come  into  existence 
even  before  the  end  of  the  Oligocene  period  : 
it  underwent  denudation  on  a  vast  scale  during  the 
Miocene.  Its  rivers  swept  down  to  the  marginal 
lowlands,  on  which  a  shallow  sea  for  a  time  lingered, 
enormous  masses  of  gravel  and  sand.  The  former 
were  thrown  down  in  huge  banks,  spreading 
outwards  from  the  mouths  of  valleys,  which  corre- 
sponded in  the  main  with  those  still  followed  by  the 
principal  rivers,  and  the  latter  are  seen  in  the  great 
masses  of  sandstone  which,  with  an  occasional  seam 
of  gravel  or  more  frequent  band  of  shale,  constitute 
the  so-called  lowlands  on  the  northern  (to  some 
extent  also  on  the  southern)  fringe  of  the  Alpine 
regions,  where  they  furnish  a  building-stone,  of 
a  pleasant  grey  colour,  easily  worked,  and  fairly 
durable,  which  is  largely  employed  in  the  principal 
towns.  The  gravels,  the  so-called  Nagelfluhe,  are 
occasionally  fully  a  mile  in  thickness,  and  have 
subsequently  been  upraised,  until  in  the  Rigi  and  the 
Speer  they  attain  some  6,000  feet  above  sea-level. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  Miocene  period  another 
epoch  of  mountain-making  began,  and  the  process 
was  continued  into  the  Pliocene.  No  deposits  of  im- 
portance, representing  the  latter  period,  can  be 
identified  within  the  limits  of  the  chain.  To  make 
acquaintance  with  these  we  must  carry  our  researches 
into  the  lowlands,  but  a  morainic  deposit  overlain  by 
a  coarse  gravel  may  perhaps  be  referred  to  its  latest 
stages. 

25 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

From  the  end  of  the  second  uplift  the  work  of 
sculpture  has  far  exceeded  that  of  deposition  ;  the 
latter  has  been  limited  to  the  larger  valleys,  and  in 
most  cases  its  results  are  of  a  superficial  character — 
screes  and  moraines,  mud-streams  and  gravels,  most 
of  them  directly  or  indirectly  due  to  the  action  of 
glaciers.  These  results,  which  offer  many  problems 
of  great  interest  and  importance,  can  be  more  con- 
veniently noticed  when  we  come  to  deal  with  the 
question  of  the  growth  and  sculpture  of  the  Alps. 


26 


CHAPTER    II 

MATERIALS   OF  THE   ALPS,   THEIR   NATURE   AND 

ORIGIN 

The  crystalline  rocks  of  the  Alps,  as  I  have  stated 
in  the  last  chapter,  are  commonly  divisible  into  three 
groups.  One,  which  at  first  sight  often  appears  to 
be  the  most  ancient,  consists  of  more  or  less  coarse 
granitoid  rocks,  not  seldom  exhibiting  a  porphyritic 
structure,  the  augen-gneisses  or  protogines.  They 
form  the  central  part  of  the  Mont  Blanc  and  the 
Oberland  ranges ;  they  appear  frequently  in  the 
Pennines,  the  Arolla  gneiss  being  probably  one  of 
them.  They  occur  in  the  Lepontine  Alps  ;  for  the 
porphyritic  rock  of  the  Lukmanier  Pass,  the  Fibbia 
gneiss  at  the  summit  of  the  St.  Gotthard,  and  the 
granite  of  the  Pizzo  Rotondo,  may  be  associated  with 
these.  They  are  also  found  in  the  Tyrol,  and  a 
variety  forms  much  of  the  Pelvoux  massif  oi  Dauphine, 
which,  however,  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  is  not 
porphyritic.  There  are,  however,  some  granites  in  the 
Alps,  like  the  masses  near  Pallanza  and  Baveno  on 
the  Lago  Maggiore,  which,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
may  be  of  later  date.  Those  coarse  granitoid  rocks, 
however,  are  not  the  most  ancient,  for  in  many  cases 
representatives  of  them  are  intrusive  in  the  other 
two  crystalline  groups,  and  must  therefore  be  of  later 

27 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

date.  The  former  of  these  groups  consists  of  strong 
gneisses,  sometimes  passing  into  mica-schists  of  corre- 
sponding character.  They  differ  in  some  respects  from 
the  gneisses  so  characteristic  of  the  Laurentians  of 
Canada,  examples  of  which  may  also  be  found  in  the 
Outer  Hebrides,  and  on  the  north-west  coast  of 
Scotland.  Rocks  of  the  latter  type  occur  in  the 
Alps,  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  only  on  the  Velber 
Tauern  Pass  to  the  east  of  the  Gross  Venediger.  A 
similar  type  is  exposed  at  the  rapids  of  the  Rhine 
at  Laufenburg,  but  this  is  connected  with  the  Black 
Forest,  where  such  gneisses  are  common,  rather  than 
with  the  Alpine  region.  These  strong  gneisses  and 
mica-schists,  whatever  be  their  origin,  are  apparently 
the  oldest  rocks  in  the  Alpine  chain.  It  is  possible, 
nay  probable,  that  many  of  them  are  really  igneous 
in  origin,  and  owe  their  banded  structure  to  fluxional 
movements  during  crystallization,  and  it  is  also 
possible  that  this  process  occurred  at  an  early  stage 
in  the  consolidation  of  the  globe.  When  the  tempera- 
ture of  its  surface  was  well  above  the  boiling-point 
of  water,  the  ocean  would  be  a  vapour  instead  of  a 
fluid,  and  the  atmospheric  pressure  would  be  equal 
to  that  of  about  4,000 ^feet  of  average  rock.  But 
under  these  circumstances  the  melting-point  of  such 
material  would  be  reached  at  a  depth  of  not  more 
than  four  miles,  instead  of  at  least  twenty,  and  a  rock 
might  remain  mobile  to  within  a  moderate  distance  of 
the  surface  ;  not  much  more  below  it  than  Mont  Blanc 
is  now  above  the  sea  ;  so  that  rupture  of  the  overlying 
crust  and  effusion  from  beneath  it  would  be  con- 
siderably more  easy.  At  a  somewhat  later  date,  when 
water  could  accumulate  on  that  crust  and  begin  its 

28 


Materials  of  the   Alps 

denuding  work,  chemical  action  both  of  solution  and 
of  precipitation  would  be  more  rapid  ;  while  at  depths 
but  little  below  that  which  has  been  reached  in  mines 
or  borings,  we  should  have  a  temperature  of  at  least 
400°  F.  That  would  greatly  facilitate  the  metamor- 
phism  of  sediments,  and  might  even  affect  the  nature 
of  the  minerals  produced.  Under  these  circumstances 
felspar,  which  is  a  rare  constituent  of  the  obvi- 
ously stratified  schists  or  of  contact  metamorphism,^ 
might  be  readily  produced,  and  those  peculiar  well- 
banded  and  often  friable  gneisses,  which  seem  more 
suggestive  of  the  bedding  of  sediments  than  the 
fluxion  structure  of  an  igneous  rock,  might  have  this 
origin.  A  crystalline  limestone  must  once  have  been 
either  a  precipitate  or  an  accumulation  of  organisms, 
and  such  a  rock  occurs  in  ordinary  gneissic  regions, 
both  in  the  Oberwald,  Sweden,  and  Canada,  and  it 
may  occur  in  the  Alps,  but,  as  it  happens,  I  have 
not  there  seen  a  satisfactory  instance  of  its  association 
with  rocks  older  than  the  upper  group,  that  of  the 
crystalline  schists,  the  sedimentary  origin  of  which, 
allowing  for  some  occasional  intrusive  rocks,  cannot, 
I  think,  be  doubted. 

These  schists  were  deposited,  as  I  believe,  on  an 
irregular  surface  {i.e.y  one  which  had  undergone  con- 
siderable denudation)  of  the  older  or  second  group 

'  From  an  ordinary  clay  mica  would  be  more  easily  produced 
than  felspar,  as  the  following  theoretical  proportions  indicate. 
Taking  alumina  as  the  unit,  orthoclase  felspar  requires  3'5i  of  silica 
and  '91  of  potash;  but  mica  (muscovite)  I'ly  of  silica  and  '30  of 
potash.  In  biotite  the  proportions  of  these  two  are  about  2-3  and  '5. 
The  destruction  of  felspar  to  form  clay  means  the  removal  of  siUca 
and  potash,  so  that  it  becomes  easier  to  make  a  mica  than  to  recon- 
stitute the  felspar. 

29 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

of  rocks,  because  sometimes  no  small  thickness  of 
gneisses  of  a  different  kind,  especially  of  those  which 
are  suggestive  of  a  sedimentary  origin,  intervenes 
between  the  former  and  the  latter,  examples  of  which 
may  be  found  occasionally  in  the  Pennines,  in  the 
St.  Gotthard  district,  and  in  more  than  one  part  of 
the  Tyrol,  not  to  mention  other  places.  But  more 
commonly  the  stratified  schists  follow  in  close  suc- 
cession to  the  lower  gneisses.  At  the  base  of  the 
former,  at  any  rate  in  the  Pennine  range  south  of 
the  Rhone  valley,  a  quartz-schist  often  comes,  which, 
in  the  Einfischthal,  is  sometimes  distinctly  pebbly, 
and  elsewhere  contains,  here  and  there,  felspars  very 
like  original  fragments.  Crystalline  limestones  or 
dolomites,  are  frequent,  which  pass  into  the  calc-mica 
schists,  occurring  in  a  rather  lenticular  fashion,  as 
might  be  expected.  The  latter  exhibit  many  varia- 
tions, not  seldom  becoming  a  lead-coloured  mica-schist 
with  but  little  calcite,  which  in  places  is  so  dark  as 
to  suggest  the  presence  of  graphite.  This  variety  often 
contains  fairly  large,  though  rather  impure,  dark  gar- 
nets. These  very  micaceous  schists  may  be  traced, 
with  little  interruption,  throughout  the  Alpine  chain. 
They  are  the  Graue-schiefer  kalkhaltig  of  the  Swiss 
geological  survey  and  the  Thon-schiefer  with  the 
Kalk-glimmer-schiefer  of  Von  Hauer's  map  of  the 
Eastern  Alps.  Staurolite-schist  is  sometimes  found, 
a  variety  with  fine  examples  of  that  mineral  occurring 
near  the  north-east  end  of  the  Lago  Ritom,  and 
another,  which  also  contains  large  specimens  of 
kyanite,  on  the  Pizzo  Forno,  near  the  Campolungo 
Pass. 

A   silvery    rather   fissile    schist,  largely  composed 

30 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

of  a  white  mica,  with  a  certain  amount  of  the  brown 
species,  occurs  at  several  localities  between  the  Gries 
and  the  Lukmanier  Passes.  By  some  Swiss  geologists 
this  is  termed  disthene-schist ;  but  as  that  mineral 
(kyanite),  though  present,  is  inconspicuous,  I  prefer  to 
call  it  "two-mica  schist,"  and  shall  refer  to  it  under 
that  name  on  a  future  page  ;  for  as  we  shall  see,  its 
evidence  is  often  of  great  value  in  determining  an 
important  theoretical  question.  Green  schists,  the 
Grilner-schiefer  of  the  Swiss  geologists,  the  Talk-und- 
^hlorit'Schiefer  of  Von  Hauer,  are  to  be  found,  though 
o  a  variable  amount,  in  almost  every  part  of  the 
Alps.  This  rock  is  rather  scarce,  so  far  as  I  know, 
in  the  Dauphin^  district,  but  is  more  abundant  in 
the  Cottian  ;  thence  it  may  be  traced  through  the 
Maurienne  and  Tarentaise  to  the  Graians,  where  it 
is  anything  but  rare.  It  abounds  in  the  Pennines, 
and  may  be  followed,  though  with  some  interruption, 
along  the  Lepontines,  but  is  not  common,  so  far  as  my 
wanderings  have  extended,  in  the  Oberland  or  the 
Rhsetian  Alps.  East  of  the  Inn  Valley  it  again  becomes 
commoner,  and  is  well  developed  in  the  central  range 
of  the  Tyrol.  Some  varieties  are  fairly  granular  and 
moderately  strong  rocks,  occasionally  rather  distinctly 
banded  ;  while  others  are  fine-grained,  schistose  (some- 
times almost  fissile),  and  often  rather  paler  in  colour 
than  the  others.  All  of  them  contain  a  fair  amount  of 
chlorite  and  hornblende,  the  latter  being  often  a  minute 
acicular  variety,  with  quartz  and  some  felspars.^  It  is 
often  probable,  and  not  seldom  certain,  that  these  green 
schists  were  originally  intrusive  basalts  or  fine-grained 

^  Some  of  these  are  later  in  date  than  the  crushing  from  which 
the  rock  has  suffered. 

31 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

dolerltes,  the  structure  and  mineral  composition  of  which 
has  been  ahered  by  subsequent  pressure  ;  but  it  would 
be,  perhaps,  rash  to  deny  the  possibility  of  some  having 
been  tuffs  of  like  composition.  ^  Coarser  hornblendic 
rocks — true  diorites — also  occur  ;  some  of  normal  char- 
acter, as  locally  in  the  Bernina  group  and  in  a  broad  band 
of  hornblendic  rocks  which  extends  along  the  southern 
margin  of  the  Alps  from  west  of  Ivrea  to  near  Locarno  ; 
others  almost  picrites,  as  above  Hospenthal  on  the  St. 
Gotthard  and  north  of  Pontresina,  none  of  them  of 
any  extent  ;  others  containing  a  fair  amount  of  quartz, 
like  the  well-known  tonalite  of  the  Adamello  massif. 
These  green  schists  in  most  cases  are  closely  associated 
with  the  calc-mica  schist  group,  though  in  some 
they  break  through  or  into  the  gneiss,  instances  of 
which  may  be  seen  on  the  Mittaghorn  near  Saas  and 
on  the  Bernina  Pass,  while  the  southern  zone  of  coarser 
rock  is  generally,  if  not  always,  associated  with  gneisses. 
The  green  schists  forming  the  ice-worn  mounds  at  the 
foot  of  the  Allalin  Glacier  and  near  the  lower  end  of 
the  Mattmark  See,  are  traversed  by  many  thin  veins 
of  a  light-coloured  rather  fine-grained  granite,  which 
appears  to  have  been  at  a  high  temperature  when  it 
was  injected,  because  it  has  locally  melted  down  small 
quantities  of  the  green  schist,  thus  producing  interesting 
examples,  on  a  small  scale,  of  a  streaky  biotite  gneiss.  ^ 
These  may  be  offshoots  from  the  magma  which  has 
elsewhere  been  the  origin  of  the  "augen-gneisses,"  but  I 

^  I  thought  in  1888  that  I  found  a  passage  (in  the  valley  above 
Mairhofen)  of  a  green  schist  into  a  calc-mica  schist  {Quart. Jour. 
Geol.  Soc.i  1889,  p.  87),  but  should  like  to  examine  the  rocks  again 
in  the  light  of  wider  experience. 

2  Geo/.  Mag.y  1894,  p.  114. 

32 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

do  not  remember  to  have  met  with  an  example  of  the 
latter  rock  actually  intrusive  in  the  green  schist,  though 
it  is  occasionally  in  the  calc-mica  schist. 

One  more  rock  group,  originally  igneous  and  among 
the  later  intrusions,  must  be  noticed  before  quitting 
these  ancient  crystallines.  This  consists  of  peridotites, 
or  olivine  rocks,  which  have  now  almost  always  been 
altered  by  hydration  to  serpentines.  Of  these  there 
are,  speaking  in  general  terms,  two  varieties  ;  the  one 
being  a  bastite-serpentine  (once  an  olivine-enstatite 
rock)  like  that  forming  some  considerable  masses  in 
the  Apennines,  and  much  of  that  at  the  Lizard;  the 
other  an  antigorite-serpentine,  which  often,  though  not 
invariably,  has  come  from  an  augite-olivine  rock.'  The 
former,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  is  the  rarer.  It 
occurs  about  the  Mont  Genevre  and  the  Col  de  Sestrie- 
res,  rather  abundantly  on  the  Julier  road,  east  of  Tiefen- 
kastel  (where,  as  at  the  Lizard  and  in  Ayrshire,  it  is  cut 
by  a  fairly  coarse  gabbro),  and  sporadically  in  a  few  other 
localities.  The  antigorite-serpentine  is  much  the  more 
abundant.  I  have  met  with  it  from  the  neighbourhood 
of  Monte  Viso  in  the  south  to  that  of  the  Gross 
Glockner  in  the  east.  There  are  large  outcrops  of  it  in 
the  Pennine  range  on  both  sides  of  the  watershed  near 
the  Th^odule  Pass — as,  for  instance,  near  Gressoney, 
at  the  head  of  the  Val  d'Ayas,  on  the  pass  itself,  and 
in  the  Petit  Mont  Cervin,  all  about  the  Riffelhorn, 
and  in  the  peaks  south  of  the  Mischabelhorner,  from 
which  it  may  be  traced  by  sporadic  outcrops  to  the 
headwaters  of  the  Tosa.  Similar  outcrops  occur  in 
other  parts  of  the  Alps,  the  most  noted  being  that 

^  Quart.  Jour,   Geol.  Soc,^  vol.    Ixi.  (1905),  p.  690;    vol.  Ixiv. 
(1908),  p.  152. 

33  c 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

on  the  north  side  of  the  Brenner  Pass,  where,  at 
Sprechenstein,  the  mineral  variety  antigorite  was  first 
clearly  described.  I  So  far,  however,  as  I  know,  neither 
form  of  serpentine  has  been  found  in  the  Oberland  or 
in  the  Dolomite  Alps.  The  antigorite-serpentine  is  a 
little  harder  and  distinctly  tougher  than  the  bastite- 
serpentine.  The  one,  when  exposed  to  great  pressure, 
assumes  a  fairly  regular  cleavage  like  a  slate,  as  may  be 
seen  on  the  Viso,  near  the  Col  de  Vallante,  and  by  the 
little  tarn  at  the  base  of  the  Riffelhorn,  where  1  have 
picked  up  flakes  hardly  thicker  than  visiting-cards  ;  - 
the  other  is  more  brittle,  cracking  and  ultimately 
forming  rather  shuttle-shaped  pieces,  with  glazed  ex- 
terior (slickensides),  but  with  little  alteration,  beyond 
crushing,  of  the  inner  structure  of  the  rock.  It  is  asso- 
ciated sometimes  with  the  calc-mica  schist,  but  more 
frequently  with  the  green  schist,  and  when  the  junctions 
are  clear  (they  are  often  obscure)  is  certainly  intrusive. 
Sometimes  it  cuts  the  gneiss,  but  this  is  not  often  seen, 
though  it  must  pass  through  that  rock  to  reach  the 
other  two.  The  variety  antigorite,  which  has  more 
resemblance  to  a  mica  (though  without  its  metallic 
lustre)  than  to  ordinary  serpentine,  has  been  asserted 
to  have  been  formed  from  augite,  but  this  is  not  the 
case,  though  that  mineral  is  apparently  rather  readily 
converted  into  it.  3  These  serpentines  are  the  latest 
of  the  crystalline  foundation-stones  of  the  Alpine 
region,  among   which  we  include   them  on  negative 

*  See  references  in  Quart.  Jour.  GeoL  Soc.y  vol.  Ixi.  (1905), 
p.  690. 

2  Geo/.  Mag.^  1890,  p.  536. 

"i  Quart.  Jour,  Geol.  SoCy  vol.  Ixi.  (1905),  p.  690;  Ixiv.  (1908), 
p.   152. 

34 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

rather  than  on  positive  evidence. ^  In  the  Apennines 
they  are  in  several  places  intrusive  in  strata  of  the 
earlier  Tertiary  age,  while  olivine  rock  occurs  in  the 
Ultenthal  (Tyrol)  and  at  the  southern  base  of  the 
Graians  in  so  fresh  a  condition  that  it  is  difficult  to 
understand  how  it  can  have  been  preserved  un- 
changed from  so  remote  a  period.  Still,  as  there  are 
granites  and  rocks  allied  to  basalts  in  the  Alps,  which 
differ  greatly  in  antiquity,  it  is  also  possible  there 
have  been  two  outbreaks  of  olivine  rock. 

We  are  now  confronted  with  an  important  problem, 
namely,  whether  any  of  the  gneisses  or  schists  are 
metamorphosed  representatives  of  rocks  of  Palaeozoic  or 
later  ages.  But  this,  perhaps,  can  be  more  easily  dealt 
with,  if  we  first  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  physical  con- 
ditions in  the  Alpine  region  during  those  ages.  At  the 
present  time,  few,  if  any,  geologists  would  demur  to  the 
assertion  that  in  this  region  the  bulk  of  the  crystalline 
rocks  are  much  older  than  any  sedimentaries  to  which 
a  date  can  be  assigned,  and  may  be  classed  as  Archaean, 
because  of  their  close  resemblance  to  the  gneisses 
and  schists  which  can  be  proved  elsewhere  to  belong 
to  that  era.  But  the  geological  history  of  the  Alps 
until  the  Carboniferous  period  is  almost  a  blank. 

Putting  aside  for  the  moment  a  rather  considerable 
group  of  schistose  rocks,  the  glanzschiefer  or  schistes 
lustre^s  of  many  geologists,  we  can  say  that  the  Silurian 
system,  including  therewith  the  Ordovician  of  many 
authors,  is  the  oldest  member  of  the  Palaeozoic  series 
which  has  been  identified  in  the  Alps,  and  this  only 

*  Prof.  J.  W.  Gregory  obtained  proof  that  a  serpentine  near  the 
Mont  Genevre  Pass  was  Pre-Triassic  {Quart.  Jour.  Geol,  Soc.^ 
vol.  1.  (1894),  p.  303). 

35 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

on  the  northern  range  eastward  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Zillerthal.  It  consists  of  grits,  such  as  the  older  geolo- 
gists often  termed  greywacke,  and  slaty  argillaceous 
rocks,  with  rather  glazed  surfaces  (phyllites),  the  age 
of  which  is  fixed  by  the  occasional  presence  of  fossils, 
sufficiently  well  preserved  to  admit  of  identification. 
These  show  that  a  sea,  probably  rather  shallow,  over- 
spread a  considerable  part  at  least  of  the  Carnic  and 
Karawanken  Alps.  They  are  sometimes  succeeded 
on  the  northern  side  by  rocks  of  a  generally  similar 
character  and  by  occasional  limestones  belonging  to 
the  Devonian  system,  which  also  are  rather  well  de- 
veloped in  the  extreme  east  to  the  north  of  Graz  in 
Styria.  Rocks  of  Carboniferous  age,  though  with 
sundry  interruptions,  are  found  over  a  wider  area.  On 
the  northern  side  of  the  Eastern  Alps  beds  occur  with 
plant  remains  and  other  fossils,  which  indicate  condi- 
tions more  or  less  marine ;  on  the  southern,  as  in  the 
Gailthal  and  at  other  localities,  the  alternation  of  beds 
containing  marine  fossils  and  those  with  plants  shows 
oscillations  between  sea  and  land.  Farther  west  in 
the  Tyrol,  and  in  most  parts  of  the  Central  Alps, 
rocks  of  Carboniferous  age  cannot  be  identified.  But 
they  are  probably  present  in  the  trough  of  the  Upper 
Rhone  valley,  more  especially  on  the  southern  side, 
westward  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Brieg,  and  per- 
haps even  from  the  Binnenthal ;  the  identification 
becoming  more  certain  as  they  are  followed  in  that 
direction.  Below  Sion  the  Carboniferous  rocks  begin 
to  be  divided  ;  one  belt  passing  through  the  mountains 
to  the  south  of  Saxon,  where  a  little  anthracite  occurs, 
and  running  as  a  narrow  strip  south  of  the  Mont  Blanc 
range,  near  the  Col  of  the  Little  St.  Bernard.    Beyond 

36 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

this  it  begins  to  broaden  out  in  the  Tarentaise  and 
the  Maurienne,  whence  it  can  be  traced,  gradually 
narrowing,  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Brianqon.  The 
northern  strip  crosses  the  Rhone  valley  near  Vernayaz, 
runs  by  Salvan  and  Finhaut  to  near  Argentiere,  and 
reappears  (on  the  northern  side  of  the  range  culmin- 
ating in  the  Aiguilles  Rouges)  in  considerable  force 
in  the  mountains  near  Servoz.  From  this  district  it 
may  be  traced  south-westwards,  but  with  many  inter- 
ruptions, as  far  as  the  Romanche,  where  it  is  last  seen 
in  two  narrow  infolds  in  the  Combe  de  Malaval. 
Except  perhaps  in  the  beautiful  subcrystalline  lime- 
stone at  Saillon,  to  which  we  shall  return,  it  gives  no 
sign  of  a  marine  deposit. 

The  Carboniferous  rocks  over  all  this  area  are 
breccias  or  conglomerates,  and  grits  or  slates,  more 
or  less  carbonaceous,  and  the  organic  remains,  if  any, 
are  those  of  plants.  They  yield,  however,  valuable 
evidence  in  regard  to  the  early  history  of  the  district 
now  occupied  by  the  Alps.  Some  of  the  most 
significant  sections  may  be  examined  on  the  ascent 
from  Vernayaz  by  Salvan  to  Finhaut.  An  important 
bed  of  breccia  or  conglomerate,  underlying  finer  sedi- 
ments (now  converted  into  a  black  slate)  is  doubled  up 
sharply  between  the  fairly  coarse  gneisses  severed  by 
the  Gorge  de  Trient ;  being  crossed  and  recrossed  by 
the  carriage  road,  which  is  the  successor  of  the  old 
mule-track.  I  The  fragments  in  the  breccia,  angular 
or  subangular,  but  seldom  at  all  well  rounded,  are 
embedded  in  a  variable  quartzose  grit,  in  which 
fragments  of  mica  are  sometimes  rather  thickly 
scattered.  They  consist  of  the  following  materials  : 
^  During  the  last  few  years  a  railway  has  been  constructed. 

37 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

(i)  vein-quartz  (white),  perhaps  the  most  abundant,  the 
fragments  ranging  about  4  inches  in  diameter  down 
to  the  smallest  size  ;  (2)  a  gneiss,  consisting  chiefly 
of  felspar  and  mica  with  but  little  quartz  ;  (3)  another 
gneiss  with  a  brownish  mica  ;  (4)  a  fine-grained,  rather 
granitoid  gneiss  with  a  moderate  or  slight  amount  of 
white  mica ;  (5)  a  very  filmy  mica-schist,  in  which  a 
silvery  mica  is  abundant ;  (6)  a  dark  mudstone.  (2)  is 
often  more  or  less  contorted,  and  represents  some  rock 
outcropping  in  the  neighbourhood  ;  (3)  and  (4)  are 
very  like  varieties  of  gneiss  seen  in  situ  above  the 
Gorge  of  the  Trient ;  while  (5)  resembles  a  variety  of 
the  calc-mica  schist,  which  occurs  on  the  Great  St. 
Bernard  and  elsewhere.  It  is  often  evident  that  a 
rock  had  become  foliated  and  in  some  cases  a  schistose 
cleavage  had  been  produced  before  the  fragment  was 
detached.  Similar  evidence  may  be  found  in  other 
places  ;  and  as  strong  streams  would  be  needed  to 
transport  material  of  this  kind,  we  are  justified  in 
inferring  that  in  the  Carboniferous  period  highland,  if 
not  mountainous,  districts,  composed  of  rocks  similar 
to  the  foundation-stones  of  the  present  Alpine  chain, 
must  already  have  existed  on  its  site.  This  is 
not  all ;  the  Secondary  limestones  which  pass  across 
the  Rhone  from  the  Western  Oberland  towards 
the  Dent  du  Midi  and  the  mountains  of  Savoy  were 
evidently  laid  down  upon  the  truncated  edges  of  this 
Carboniferous  infold.  Similar,  but  even  stronger, 
evidence  may  be  found  in  the  valley  of  the  Romanche. 
Here,  on  either  side  of  Freney,  the  well-known  ravine 
of  the  Combe  de  Malaval  has  cut  through  two  infolds 
of  Carboniferous  rocks.  Fragments  in  one  of  them 
prove  that  the  parent  rocks  had  been  foliated  and  sub- 

38 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

jected  to  earth  movements  in  Pre-Carboniferous  times. 
These  infolds,  both  far  from  thick — the  lower  one  is 
only  a  few  dozen  yards  across — are  almost  in  a  vertical 
position,  and  the  well-stratified  Secondary  (Trias) 
rocks  above  pass  from  one  surface  of  gneiss  to  another 
right  across  the  truncated  edges  of  these  folds.  Thus 
this  long-forgotten  Alpine  region  must  have  under- 
gone great  folding  and  great  denudation  in  later 
Palaeozoic  times.  The  date  of  these  movements 
cannot  be  very  precisely  fixed,  but  it  probably  belongs 
in  the  main  to  a  long  interval,  which  has  left  but  little 
record,  between  the  later  Carboniferous  and  the  earlier 
Permian  deposits.  In  not  a  few  parts  of  the  Alps  a 
rock  occurs  called  Verrucano,  which  is  stratigraphically 
more  closely  related  to  the  Trias  than  to  the  Carbon- 
iferous, for,  like  the  former,  it  sometimes  passes  across 
infolded  masses  of  the  latter/  It  often  consists  of  a 
breccia  or  conglomerate,  mainly  composed  of  the 
older  crystalline  rocks  and  having  a  more  or  less 
schistose  aspect  as  an  indirect  result  of  subsequent 
pressure,  which  is  occasionally  overlain  by  a  certain 
amount  of  limestone  or  dolomite.  This  description 
applies  to  the  representatives  of  the  Permian  system, 
which  occur  in  the  Western,  Central,  and  parts  of 
the  Tyrolese  Alps  ;  but  in  the  regions  around  Botzen 
are  great  masses  of  effusive  igneous  rocks,  which 
belong  to  the  earlier  part  of  the  period.  These  are 
followed  by  a  red  sandstone — the  Grodner  Sandstone — 
and  that  by  a  limestone  containing  fossils  ;  both  of 
which  occur  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Southern  Alps 
and  in  the  Karawanken  Alps ;  while  in  the  latter 
some  marine  limestones  represent  the  earlier  part  of 
^  See  E.  Fraas,  "  Scenerie  der  Alpen  "  (1892),  p.  93. 

39 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

this  system. I  Molten  material — probably  as  a  conse- 
quence of  those  movements — was  forced  up  from 
below  in  several  parts  of  the  Alps,  but  in  most  of 
these  the  outcrops  now  visible  are  both  isolated 
and  limited  in  extent  like  the  "  porphyrites "  of  the 
Windgalle  in  the  Maderanerthal  or  that  in  the 
mountains  on  both  sides  of  the  Rhone  below 
Martigny.  But  vast  floods  of  lava  (varieties  of 
porphyrite)  were  poured  out  over  an  area  which 
extends,  speaking  in  general  terms,  from  Meran  on  the 
north  to  Trient  on  the  south,  and  from  the  Val  de 
Non  on  the  west  to  near  Primiero  on  the  east.  These 
lavas  rise  high  on  either  side  of  the  beautiful  glen  of 
the  Kuntersweg,  through  which  the  Eisack  has  carved 
a  path  in  its  way  to  join  the  Etsch  at  Botzen.  They 
are  traversed  by  the  two  mountain  roads  from  that 
town  to  Predazzo,  and  help  to  make  this  a  happy 
hunting-ground  for  petrologists.  It  is  also  possible 
that  some  rather  outlying  granitic  masses  in  the 
Alpine  chain  may  have  been  intruded  during  this 
period ;  such  as  the  granites  in  the  Baveno  district  on 
the  Lago  Maggiore,  that  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
Gasterenthal,  that  of  the  Cima  d'Asti,  and  the 
tonalite  of  the  Adamello  massif.  But  on  this  question 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  speak  with  certainty.  So 
far,  however,  as  we  are  aware,  no  sediments  of 
Triassic  or  later  age  in  the  Alps  are  actually  cut  by  a 
granite. 

The  representation  of  the  Triassic  system  in  the 
Alps  is  variable  in  amount  and  in  character.  Rocks 
of  this  period  are  grandly  developed  in  the  Eastern 

'  Other  rocks  in  the  Swiss  Alps  have  been  referred  to  this  period, 
but  this  question  will  be  considered  at  a  later  stage. 

40 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

Alps  on  each  side  of  the  central  range  ;  and  on  the 
southern  one  discharges  of  molten  material,  both  effu- 
sive and  intrusive,  continued  from  the  preceding  period. 
To  these  belong  the  basaltic  tuffs  (sometimes  fossili- 
ferous)  and  agglomerates  of  the  South-eastern  Alps, 
which  are  intercalated  among  dolomites  or  limestones, 
mostly  of  lower  Triassic  age.  They  extend  from  the 
Seisser  Alp,  to  the  north-east  of.  Botzen,  almost  to 
Cortina  in  the  valley  of  the  Piave,  and  the  interesting 
crystalline  intrusions  in  the  Predazzo  district  may 
perhaps  represent  the  expiring  efforts  of  this  age 
of  subterranean  disturbance.  Volcanic  rocks  are 
absent  from  the  great  masses  of  Triassic  limestones, 
dolomites  and  marls  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
central  range,  but  important  beds  of  salt  indicate  the 
conditions  of  deposit  to  have  been  locally  exceptional. 
So  they  were,  not  unfrequently,  in  the  Central  Alps. 
There  in  some  places  the  Trias  is  altogether  absent ; 
in  others  it  is  represented  by  a  limestone  called 
rauchwacke,  often  soft,  crumbly,  and  yellowish  in 
colour,  which  is  not  unfrequently  associated  with 
beds  of  gypsum,  but  locally  it  becomes  more  solid  and 
bears  more  resemblance  to  the  dolomitic  rocks  of  the 
Eastern  Alps.  For  instance,  on  the  northern  side  of 
the  Val  Bedretto,  both  east  and  west  of  Airolo,  the 
pulverulent  rauchwacke  is  very  thin  ;  on  the  Nufenen 
Pass,  and  still  farther  east  in  the  direction  of  the  Gries 
Pass,  the  Liassic  rocks  either  rest  directly  on  ancient 
crystalline  schists  or  are  parted  from  them  by  a  few 
feet  of  rauchwacke.  North  of  the  Lepontine  axis,  in 
the  similar  infold  along  the  upper  valley  of  the 
Reuss  and  on  the  Furka  Pass,  the  rauchwacke,  if 
present  at  all,  is  very  thin.     The  variability  of  the 

41 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

representation  of  the  Trias  is  well  demonstrated  in 
its  eastward  prolongation  from  Airolo.  In  the 
Val  Piora  district,  at  the  western  end  of  the  Lago 
Ritom,  we  find  only  thin  strips  of  rauchwacke, 
nipped  between  crystalline  schists  of  much  greater 
antiquity  ;  but,  after  gaining  the  step  beyond  the 
eastern  end  of  that  lake,  we  see  the  rauchwacke 
quickly  becoming  thicker  and  including  well-marked 
deposits  of  gypsum.  Yet  farther  east,  at  the  head 
of  the  upland  valley,  the  whole  length  of  which  is 
barely  five  miles,  we  find  the  often  friable  rauchwacke 
replaced  by  a  mass  of  dolomitic  limestone,  which  must 
be  fully  600  feet  thick,  and  is  strong  enough  to  form 
the  bold  crags  of  the  Pizzo  Columbe,  which  rises  to  a 
height  of  8,363  feet. 

In  the  Tarentaise  and  Maurienne  the  Trias, 
generally  a  limestone  of  some  kind,  is,  for  the  most 
part,  but  feebly  represented.  Around  the  crystalline 
massif  of  the  Pelvoux  it  is  often  wanting,'  but  it 
appears  farther  to  the  west  in  Dauphine,  and  may  be 
traced  from  the  above-named  northern  districts  to  the 
eastern  side  of  the  main  watershed  and  thence  south- 
wards into  the  Maritime  Alps.  The  Triassic  deposits 
accordingly  indicate  that  in  the  Central  and  Western 
portions  of  the  Alpine  region  a  shallow  sea  was 
invading  during  those  ages  a  hilly  and  rather  barren 
district,  and  forming  lagoons  which  were  often  favour- 
able to  the  precipitation  of  salt  and  of  gypsum  ;  this 
sea  becoming  more  open  in  character  towards  the 
south-east,  where  fossils  and  even  coral-reefs  are  not 
seldom  abundant.     We  may   admit   this   to  be  true 

^  Below  the  northern  cliffs  of  the  Meije  and  on  the  Col  de 
la  Lauze  (11,625  ^^^0  the  Liassic  slate  rests  on  crystalline  rocks. 

42 


s^^ 


1 


-  -J,  *-»' 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

without  going  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  some  of  the 
curiously  insulated  dolomitic  masses  in  the  'district  east 
of  Botzen  are  actual  atolls,  and  still  retain,  after  these 
myriads  of  years,  not  a  little  of  their  original  form. 
In  the  Eastern  Alps  also  the  Rhsetic  system, 
which  in  our  own  part  of  Europe  is  so  poorly 
developed,  attains  a  great  thickness,  and  includes  an 
important  mass  of  limestone  or  dolomite  which  takes 
its  name  from  the  Dachstein  mountain.  From  this 
also  the  Marmolata,  Tofana,  Drei  Zinnen,  Pelmo,  and 
other  important  peaks  in  the  south-east  Tyrol  have 
been  sculptured. 

The  deposits  of  the  Jurassic  period  mark  a  long 
and  steady  subsidence,  for  they  extend  over  almost 
the  whole  of  the  Alpine  region,  and  occur  in  a  way 
which  leads  us  to  suspect  that  they  were  once 
present  even  in  the  places  where  they  cannot  now  be 
found.  The  formation  is  marine  throughout,  and  not 
seldom  passes  into  one  indicative  of  distinctly  deep 
water.  It  presents  two  types,  in  the  one  of  which 
clays,  in  the  other  limestones,  are  dominant.  The 
former,  which  are  sometimes  curiously  like  certain 
members  of  the  English  Lias,  occur  in  the  western 
part  of  the  northern  Alpine  zone,  and  consist  of  grey 
or  black  clay  streaked  with  calcareous  strata,  which 
are  suggestive  of  deposit  at  a  rather  small  or  at  most  a 
very  moderate  depth  ;  while  the  latter  are  mainly 
composed  of  limestone,  with  occasional  cherts,  which 
must  have  been  laid  down  in  a  fairly  deep  sea. 
Conglomerates  and  breccias  are  extremely  rare,  if  not 
altogether  absent ;  and  during  this  geological  period 
the  highland  region  which,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Mesozoic  era,  occupied  no  small  part  of  the  site  of 

43 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

the  existing  Alps,  must  have  given  place  to  an  ocean. 
The  higher  (and  usually  the  larger)  part  of  the 
Jurassic  system — the  Lower,  Middle,  and  Upper 
Oolites  of  our  own  country — is  represented  in  all  the 
great  Alpine  districts  occupied  by  sedimentary  rocks, 
though  the  equivalents  of  the  first  and  second  are 
generally  less  well  developed  than  the  third.  In 
the  Eastern  Alps  all  three  are  often  missing,  prob- 
ably having  been  removed  by  denudation ;  but  in 
proceeding  westward  we  find  them  becoming  more 
important  constituents  in  the  mountain  ranges, 
especially  on  the  northern,  and  ultimately  on  the 
western,  side  of  the  crystalline  watershed  in  this  part 
of  Europe.  On  the  Italian  side  both  they  and  the 
underlying  Trias  disappear  no  great  distance  west  of 
the  Lago  Maggiore.  But  on  the  other  one,  the  lime- 
stone precipices,  now  towering  unbroken  to  a  vast 
height,  now  forming  terraced  walls,  alternating  with 
green  or  forest-clad  slopes,  are  carved  from  rocks 
representing  the  Middle  and  the  Upper  Oolites  of 
Britain,  where  clays  predominate  and  the  variable 
beds  of  limestone  never  reach  a  thickness  of  50  yards. 
Rocks  of  this  age.  Infolded  with  those  of  a  later 
date,  but  generally  similar  In  character,  extend  In  a 
broad  belt  through  the  Western  Oberland,  across  the 
valley  of  the  Rhone  and  the  upper  end  of  the  Lake  of 
Geneva  into  Savoy.  This  belt  continues  through  that 
province,  running  west  of  the  crystalline  zone  w^hich 
extends  from  Mont  Blanc  to  the  Dauphind  Alps, 
and  is  severed  successively  by  the  Is^re  and  the 
Romanche,  broadening  out  In  the  direction  of 
Provence  until  it  is  for  the  most  part  burled  beneath 
deposits  of  later  date. 

44 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

Next  in  succession  comes  the  Neocomian  system, 
more  commonly  called  the  Lower  Cretaceous  by 
British  geologists,  but  as  both  it  and  the  Upper 
Cretaceous  of  the  latter  are  well  developed  in  most 
parts  of  the  Alps,  and  exhibit  marked  differences 
in  their  fauna,  it  seems  better  to  regard  them  as 
independent.  The  Neocomian  is  not  very  strongly 
developed  in  the  Eastern  Alps,  either  Northern  or 
Southern,  but  in  the  Central  and  Western  Alps  it 
assumes  a  more  important  character  and  includes  some 
thick  beds  of  limestone.  These,  for  instance,  form  the 
grand  cliffs  of  the  Diablerets,  both  in  the  huge  cirque 
of  the  Creux  de  Champ  and  near  the  scene  of  the 
famous  beroffall  on  the  Pas  de  Cheville.  Similar 
limestones,  often  very  compact,  cream-coloured,  and 
excellent  for  structural  purposes,  are  well  developed 
in  the  Jura,  together  with  those  of  the  preceding 
system,  and  continue  to  be  an  important  feature  after 
that  range  has  merged  with  the  main  chain  of  the 
Alps  ;  the  noted  ravine  of  the  Perte  du  Rhone,  some 
twenty  miles  below  Geneva,  being  excavated  in  rock 
of  this  age. 

The  Alpine  representatives  of  the  next  formation, 
the  Cretaceous  (or  Upper  Cretaceous)  differ  widely 
from  those  in  Britain  and  north-western  Europe,  for 
we  find  among  them  nothing  like  the  white  chalk  of 
the  English  Downs.  Nor  do  we  meet  with  those 
hard,  compact,  cream-coloured  limestones,  with  not 
unfrequent  chert,  which  represent  that  chalk  in  the 
Mediterranean  region.  The  site  of  the  Alps  was  still 
occupied  by  a  sea,  but  this  was  becoming  shallow,  so 
that  its  limestones  are  more  or  less  mixed  with  sand 
or  mud.     These  rocks  generally  afford   rugged  and 

45 


The  Building  of  the   Alps 

barren,  but  not  impressive,  scenery,  for  the  rainfall 
often  speedily  disappears  down  natural  drainpipes. 
In  the  Eastern  Alps,  however,  both  north  and  south 
of  the  central  axis,  limestones  of  this  age  become 
more  important  ;  as,  for  instance,  the  Untersberg 
''  marble  "  of  the  former  and  the  scaglia  of  the  latter. 
In  both  of  these  the  genus  Hippurites,  a  fossil  rare 
in  the  British  chalk,  but  abundant  enough  in  Southern 
France  to  give  its  name  to  a  limestone  of  that  age, 
is  more  or  less  common.  Neither  do  we  find  rocks 
resembling  either  the  Upper  Greensand  of  England 
or  the  blue  clay  of  our  Gault,  though  in  the  Perte 
du  Rhone  district  an  argillaceous  deposit  rich  in 
phosphate  nodules,  and  with  abundant  fossils,  is 
rather  like  certain  deposits  in  this  country  which 
occur  in  one  or  other  of  these  formations  near  their 
border  line.  ' 

In  some  parts  of  the  Alps  the  Cretaceous  system 
includes  an  important  deposit,  which  occasionally 
presents  some  peculiarities,  difficult  of  explanation. 
It  is  called  the  Flysch,  but,  since  it  represents  Sl fades 
or  consequence  of  similar  physical  conditions,  which 
seem  not  to  have  prevailed  simultaneously  but  to  have 
travelled  slowly  from  east  to  west  in  the  region  now 
occupied  by  the  Alps,  it  may  be  better  to  defer  any 
further  description  of  this  group  of  rocks  till  we  have 
noticed  those  indubitably  of  Eocene  age,  which  also 
are  involved  in  the  Alpine  folds.  No  physical  break, 
such  as  exists  in  Britain,  separates  the  Mesozoic  from 
the  Kainozoic  series  ;  the  Cretaceous  in  many  parts 
passing  up  into  the  Eocene.  The  representatives  of 
the  latter  (excluding  the  Flysch)  are  almost  restricted 
to    the    northern    outer    border    of  the    Alps,    and 

46 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

include  a  limestone  with  Nummulites,^  This  member 
of  the  Eocene  is  developed  in  the  Brianc^onnais,  and 
again,  after  an  interval,  in  the  Savoy  Alps,  the  Dent  du 
Midi,  the  Diablerets,  and  from  this  eastward  through 
Switzerland  into  the  Bavarian  and  Tyrolese  Alps. 
The  nummulitic  beds  are  well  developed  at  Appenzell 
and  near  Einsiedeln,  and  the  genus  is  abundant  in  the 
oolitic  ironstones  of  the  Kressenberg,  near  Traunstein 
in  the  Bavarian  Alps.  Deposits  of  this  age  are  rather 
extensively  developed  on  the  southern  slopes  of  the 
Eastern  Alps  ;  while  at  Ronca  and  other  places  in 
the  Vicento-Veronese  district,  some  basaltic  tuffs  and 
lavas  indicate  eruptive  activity  at  this  epoch.  Here 
the  chief  characteristics  of  the  marine  fauna  are  the 
relatively  large  size  of  its  shells,  the  presence  of  reef- 
building  corals,  and  the  great  abundance  of  sea- 
urchins.  The  calcareous  shales  of  Monte  Bolca,  with 
their  rich  fish-fauna,  belong  to  the  same  geological 
period. 2  Not  very  long  after  this,  perhaps  when  the 
fluvio-marine  Headon  Beds  were  being  deposited  in 
England,  the  first  of  the  great  earth  movements  was 
initiated  to  which  the  Alps  owe  their  birth. 

In  the  northern  zone  of  the  Alps  the  total  thickness 
of  the  deposits  included  under  the  name  Flysch  often 
reaches  some  hundreds  of  yards.  They  vary  in  most 
places  from  clays  to  sands  ;  the  former  being  gener- 
ally rendered  more  or  less  slaty  by  pressure,  but 
they  occasionally  include  beds  of  conglomerates  or 
breccias,  the  character  of  which,  as  will  presently  be 

'  A  peculiar  chambered  foraminifer,  which  presents  a  rough 
resemblance  to  a  coin  and  sometimes  exceeds  an  inch  in  diameter. 

2  Kayser  and  Lake,  "  Text  Book  of  Comparative  Geology"  (1893), 
P-  337. 

47 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

noticed,  is  often  remarkable.  On  the  extreme  east 
the  Flysch  is  more  or  less  sandy,  and  thus  bears  the 
name  of  the  Vienna  Sandstone.  In  the  neighbour- 
hood of  this  city  some  of  the  lower  beds  actually  con- 
tain fossils  of  Neocomian  aore,  so  that  hereabouts 
Flysch  conditions  are  supposed  to  have  been  initiated, 
even  before  the  Cretaceous  period,  and  to  have  lasted 
into  the  Tertiary  era  ;  but  as  we  proceed  westwards 
into  the  Swiss  Alps  its  beginning  must  be  assigned 
to  a  later  date,  until  it  may  be  regarded  in  this  dis- 
trict as  more  or  less  an  equivalent  of  the  lower  part 
of  the  Tertiary  ;  and  at  last  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  Western  Alps  the  Flysch  represents  little  more 
than  the  Upper  Eocene  with  some  portion  of  the 
Lower  Oligocene.  ** Coming  events"  evidently  must 
have  been  casting  their  shadows  before  them.  The 
zone  now  occupied  by  the  Alpine  chain  was  beginning 
to  be  disturbed  ;  the  sea  was  shallowing ;  land  at  no 
great  distance  was  being  attacked  by  agents  of  denu- 
dation, and  the  waters,  in  consequence,  were  becoming 
charged  with  sediments.^  These,  as  we  have  said, 
vary  from  muds  to  sands,  but  certain  rather  sporadi- 
cally distributed  beds  of  breccia  are  their  most  peculiar 
and  perplexing  features.  Those  in  the  Habkeren- 
thal2  long  ago  attracted  the  attention  of  geologists. 
Here  the  Flysch  is  "a  brownish  to  blackish,  rather 
gritty  fissile  mudstone.  It  contains  occasionally  thin 
bands   of    hard   sandstone   and    lenticular  masses   of 

^  The  Flysch  has  been  recently  compared,  so  far  as  its  dominant 
finer-grained  material  is  concerned,  with  such  deposits  as  the  upper- 
most Silurian  and  the  Permo-Carboniferous  in  Britain  (W.  W. 
Watts,   Quart.  Jour.   Geol.  Soc.^  vol.  Ixvii.  (191 1),  p.  Ixxxiv.). 

«  North  of  the  Lake  of  Thun,  a  few  miles  from  Interlaken. 

48 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

breccia  or  conglomerate.  The  fragments  in  this  are 
commonly  subangular  or  subrotund ;  sometimes  it 
becomes  a  coarse  grit,  and  sometimes  contains  boulders 
bigger  than  a  man's  head.  The  material  of  the 
matrix  (generally  indurated)  apparently  has  been 
derived  from  granitic  rocks  ;  in  parts  it  becomes  a  fairly 
uniform  quartz-felspar  grit,  but  when  the  fragments 
vary  much  in  size  a  few  represent  sedimentary  rocks. 
Thin  streaks  of  mudstone  sometimes  interrupt  the 
lenticular  masses  toward  the  outside,  and  the  mud- 
stone  itself  may  contain  isolated  boulders  or  frag- 
ments. I  was  unable,  in  the  time  at  my  disposal,  to 
find  one  of  the  very  large  boulders  in  situ  in  the 
Flysch,  but  several  lay  in  the  bed  of  the  stream,  the 
biggest  of  which  (rather  rounded)  measured  roughly 
4  by  3  by  3  yards. "^  The  late  Sir  R.  Murchison 
mentions  one  which  measured  35  by  30  by  15  yards, 
or  was  not  less  than  400,000  cubic  feet  in  volume.^ 
In  these  blocks  at  least  half  a  dozen  varieties  of 
granite  are  represented,  which  do  not  correspond  with 
any  now  visible  in  the  Alps,  and  one,  a  porphyritic 
kind,  much  resembles  a  granite  in  the  Schwarzwald. 
The  valley  of  the  Grande  Eau  above  Le  Sepey 
affords  still  better  sections  of  breccias  in  the  Flysch. 
**  These  exhibit  a  series  of  bedded  limestones  (dark), 
mudstones,  grits,  and  breccias,  forming  apparently  an 
ascending  series,  and  dipping  variably,  but  as  a  rule 
rather  steeply,  in  a  south-easterly  direction.  .  .  .  The 
following  is  a  summary  of  the  principal  facts  :  the 
breccia,  in  which  signs  of  stratification  may  be  detected, 
is  regularly  interbedded  with  limestones,  mudstones, 

^  Quart.  Jour.  Geol.  Soc.y  vol.  Iviii.  (1902),  p.  194. 
'  Id.y  vol.  V.  (1849),  p.  212. 

49  D 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

or  grits,  passing  at  the  top  or  bottom  (generally  rather 
rapidly)  into  one  or  other  of  them,  but  in  the  case  of 
the  first  or  second  a  thin  layer  of  grit  may  intervene. 
Beds  of  breccia  are  numerous  between  Le  Sepey  and 
the  ravine  of  the  Raverettaz,  varying  in  thickness 
from  less  than  i8  inches  to  several  yards,  but 
apparently  becoming  thicker  and  coarser  as  they 
ascend.  On  approaching  that  ravine  we  find  a  thick 
mass  of  grit  or  gritty  limestone  setting  in,  which 
passes  locally  and  rapidly  into  a  breccia,'*  in  which  the 
fragments  are  generally  small,  but  now  and  then  '*a 
boulder  3  or  4  cubic  feet  in  volume  may  be  found  in 
a  mass  where  the  bulk  of  the  fragments  do  not  exceed 
5  inches  in  diameter  and  are  mostly  much  smaller. 
On  the  left  bank  of  the  Raverettaz  stream  we  speedily 
come  to  the  great  mass  of  breccia,"  which  according  to 
Professor  Renevier  and  Dr.  Schardt,i  may  be  traced 
for  about  2  kilometers  to  the  north-west  and  5  kilo- 
meters to  the  south-east  (where  the  beds  are  lost 
beneath  overthrust  Jurassic  strata).  In  this  mass  the 
volume  of  the  matrix,  a  dark  gritty  mudstone,  is  less 
than  that  of  the  fragments,  which  vary  greatly  in  size, 
the  majority  being  less  than  5  inches  in  diameter,  and 
the  remainder  measuring  anything  from  that  up  to 
several  cubic  feet,  the  largest  being  granite  or  gneiss. 
The  above-named  authors  enumerate  eight  varieties 
of  the  former  and  three  of  the  latter,  with  sundry 
crystalline  schists.  There  are,  however,  a  fair  num- 
ber of  sedimentaries — grey  limestone,  sometimes  in 
large  blocks,  dark,  slaty  rocks,  generally  in  small  bits, 
and  quartzites.  The  microscope  reveals  the  presence 
of  marine  organisms  in  the  matrix,  and  the  above- 
•   Ut  supra^  p.  1 96. 

so 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

named  geologists  have  occasionally  found  specimens 
of  larger  size,  which  have  led  them  to  place  these 
beds  at  the  top  of  the  Eocene  system.  The  granites 
or  gneisses  have  a  general  resemblance  to  what  can  be 
seen  in  adjacent  Alpine  regions,  though  for  the  nearest 
exposure  of  the  former  at  the  present  day  we  must 
go  some  II  or  12  miles  to  the  south-south-west, 
and  we  may  say  the  same  of  some  of  the  other  rocks. 
The  fact  that  the  materials  of  this  breccia  can  be 
identified  within  no  great  distance  removes  one  serious 
difficulty  which  besets  us  in  the  Habkerenthal,  but 
leaves  others  which  are  equally  perplexing.  These 
more  or  less  stratified  breccias  of  the  Le  Sepey  dis- 
trict must  have  been  formed  beneath  the  sea.  They 
might  be  some  kind  of  a  fringing  deposit  on  a  large 
scale,  but  unless  the  crags  from  which  they  fell, 
though  within  a  few  yards,  are  everywhere  concealed, 
a  thing  which  is  far  from  probable,  they  must  have 
been  carried,  at  any  rate  for  some  distance,  to  their 
present  position.  Neither  ocean  currents  nor  the  rush 
of  torrents  from  neighbouring  highlands  would  be 
strong  enough,  of  themselves,  to  move  boulders  of 
some  cubic  feet  in  volume  any  distance  from  the 
shore,  and  all  the  evidence  in  our  possession  indicates 
that  no  parent  areas  of  importance  could  have  been 
exposed  at  this  geological  epoch.  Material  such  as 
this  might  have  been  brought  down  by  a  glacier;  but 
in  order  to  form  a  deposit  of  this  nature  it  must  have 
extended  out  to  sea,  like  one  of  those  in  Alaska  ;  or 
debris  might  have  been  incorporated  during  the  winter 
into  shore-ice,  and  floated  away  when  this  broke  up. 
But  these  suppositions  require  us  to  assume  the  exist- 
ence either  of  very  high  mountains  or  of  an  excep- 

51 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

tionally  low  temperature.  Yet  no  evidence  can  be 
found  in  favour  of  the  one,  and  the  other  implies  the 
occurrence  of  a  glacial  epoch  in  the  later  part  of  the 
Eocene,  a  period  throughout  which  the  climate  of 
Western  Europe  seems  to  have  been  much  warmer 
than  it  is  at  the  present  time.  The  problem  must, 
we  fear,  remain  among  those  which  await  -a  solu- 
tion. ^ 

At  the  end  of  the  Eocene,  or  quite  early  in  the 
Oligocene,  the  making  of  the  Alps  began,  but  we 
must  reserve  the  details  of  this  process  for  a  later 
chapter,  since  it  can  be  more  conveniently  discussed 
after  the  leading  orographic  features  of  the  chain  have 
been  described.  At  present  it  may  suffice  to  say 
that  the  sea  retreated  northwards  and  southwards 
from  the  Alpine  area.  In  the  outer  zone  of  this, 
however,  some  marine  beds  are  found,  as  in  the  Castel 
Gomberto  district  of  the  southern  (Vicentine)  Alps, 
at  Miesbach  in  the  Bavarian  Alps,  at  the  base  of  the 
well-known  Rigi,  and  in  other  places  on  the  northern 
margin  of  the  Swiss  Alps.  These  are  referred  to  the 
Middle  Oligocene,  and  some  overlying  estuarine 
deposits  to  the  Upper  Oligocene.  They,  however, 
are  generally  inconspicuous ;  not  so  the  representatives 
of  the  Miocene  period,  most  of  which  are  fresh- 
water deposits,  though  a  marine  bed,  with  at  least 
400  species  of  molluscs,  occurs  above  the  middle 
of  the  system  in  the  neighbourhood  of  St.  Gall.  2 
They  form  the  major  part  of  the  Swiss  lowland, 
extending   on    the    one    side,    though    dwindling    in 

'  The  difficulties  are   more  fully  stated   and   discussed    in   the 
paper  to  which  we  have  already  referred,  p.  202. 
"  Kayser  and  Lake,  ut  supra,  p.  300. 

52 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

importance,  Into  Bavaria ;  on  the  other  along  the 
western  border  of  the  French  Alps,  round  which  they 
sweep  till  they  disappear  in  the  department  of  the 
Basses-Alpes.  On  the  southern  side  similar  beds 
occur,  though  but  rarely.  In  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  more  lofty  Alpine  ranges  they  are  associated  with, 
or  partly  replaced  by,  enormous  masses  of  conglome- 
rate, which  not  unfrequently  seem  to  be  rather  closely 
related  to  existing  rivers  and  to  be  mainly  composed 
of  debris  from  the  district  drained  by  them.^  These 
beds,  as  is  obvious  at  a  glance,  have  been  affected 
by  subsequent  disturbances,  but  they  have  not  been 
implicated  in  the  great  folds  which  gave  birth  to  the 
Alps. 

The  conglomerates  of  the  Swiss  region  have  long 
borne  the  name  of  Nagelfluhe,  or  "nail-rock."  Excel- 
lent examples  may  be  seen  on  the  Speer,  near  the 
Lake  of  Wallenstadt,  and  in  a  place  yet  more  familiar 
to  travellers — the  grand  cliffs  of  the  Rigi,  with  the 
neighbouring  Rossberg.^  Here,  with  occasional  inter- 
calated beds  of  sandstone,  they  attain  a  great  thick- 
ness, for  this  is  estimated  in  places  at  fully  5,000  feet. 
The  pebbles  are  generally  considerably  rounded,  the 
amount  depending  to  some  extent  on  the  nature  of 
the  rock.  In  fact,  they  bear  no  small  resemblance  to 
those  of  much  later  date  in  the  gravels  which  were 
deposited  in  the  lowlands  by  the  immediate  predeces- 
sors of  the  existing  rivers,  while  the  ordinary  molasse, 

^  Some  pebbles  of  crystalline  rock  occur  on  the  Rigi,  the  source 
of  which  is  not  yet  known  [Geol.  Mag.^  1883,  p.  511). 

^  The  railway  from  Lucerne  to  the  St.  Gotthard  passes  through  a 
wilderness  of  blocks  of  nagelfluhe,  the  relics  of  the  disastrous  bergfall 
from  the  Rossberg  in  1806. 

S3 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

which  occupies  a  wider  area,  and  is  often  rather  the 
newer,  is  a  grey  sandstone,  associated  with  occasional 
beds  of  shale,  the  former  of  which  is  largely  used  as 
a  building-stone  in  the  Swiss  towns.  The  molasse 
contains  the  remains  of  a  large  fauna  and  flora,  which 
have  led  investigators  to  the  conclusion  that  the  dis- 
trict bordering  the  Alps — practically  the  whole  region 
between  that  chain  and  the  Jura — was  a  lowland  occu- 
pied by  marshes  and  lakes  ;  and  the  fossils  suggest 
that  the  climate,  during  the  Miocene,  was  much 
warmer  than  it  now  is,  declining  from  about  i6°  F. 
higher  than  the  present  mean  temperature  at  the 
beginning  to  some  12°  at  the  end.^  The  most  noted 
representatives  of  the  Upper  Miocene  of  Switzerland 
are  the  fresh-water  marly  limestones  of  Oeningen 
at  the  end  of  the  Lake  of  Constance.  From  these  the 
late  Professor  Heer  obtained  "  some  50  vertebrates, 
826  specimens  of  insects,  some  40  other  invertebrates, 
and  475  species  of  plants."  The  last  show  a  curious 
mixture  of  types  now  occupying  widely  separated 
parts  of  the  globe,  "  American  being  the  most 
frequent  among  them.  European  types  stand  next  in 
number,  followed  in  order  of  abundance  by  Asiatic, 
African,  and  Australian.  Judging  from  the  proportion 
of  species,  the  total  insect  fauna  may  be  presumed  to 
have  been  richer  than  it  now  is  in  any  part  of  Europe. 
The  wood-beetles  are  specially  numerous  and  large. 
.  .  .  Among  the  inhabitants  of  that  land  were  species 
of  tapir,  mastodon,  rhinoceros,  and  deer.  The  woods 
were  haunted  by  musk-deer,  apes,  opossums,  three- 
toed  horses,  and  some  of  the  strange,  long-extinct 
Tertiary  ruminants,  akin  to  those  of  Eocene  times. 
'  O.  Heer,  "  Die  Urwelt  der  Schweiz  "  (1879),  p.  506. 
S4 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

There  were  also  frogs,  toads,  lizards,^  snakes,  squirrels, 
hares,  beavers,  and  a  number  of  small  carnivores. 
On  the  lake,  the  huge  Dinotherium  floated,  mooring 
himself  perhaps  to  its  banks  by  the  two  strong  tusks 
in  his  under-jaw.  The  waters  were  likewise  tenanted 
by  numerous  fishes,  of  which  thirty-two  species  have 
been  described  (all  save  one  referable  to  existing 
genera),  crocodiles,  and  chelonians."^ 

The  Miocene  period  was  probably  closed,  as  will 
be  explained  in  a  later  chapter,  by  another  important 
set  of  earth  movements.  Since  the  end  of  these  the 
removal  of  material  in  the  mountain  regions  has  been 
more  conspicuous  than  its  deposition,  that  process 
having  been  local,  sporadic,  and  chiefly  restricted 
to  the  lowlands.  No  beds  of  Pliocene  age  can  be 
identified  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Alps,  unless 
it  be  that  the  earliest  of  those  indicative  of  the 
direct  or  indirect  action  of  ice  really  belong  to  the 
later  part  of  that  period,  but  it  will  be  more  con- 
venient to  treat  separately  these  and  other  glacial  and 
post-glacial  deposits.  For  ordinary  marine  or  even 
fresh-water  strata  corresponding  with  the  Crags  of 
England  and  of  Belgium  we  must  look  outside  the 
Alpine  chain.  The  sea  appears  to  have  retreated 
from  Germany,  though  it  still  lingered  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Vienna,  occupied  the  lower  valley  of  the 
Rhone  as  far  as  Lyons,  fringed  the  Maritime  Alps  and 
both  sides  of  the  Apennines,  leaving  its  deposits,  often 
of  considerable  thickness,  on  the  lowlands  of  Italy. 

^  Among  the  reptiles  was  a  kind  of  salamander  very  nearly  related 
to  the  large  Cryptobranchus  now  living  in  Japan,  which  was  described 
in  1726  by  Scheuchzer  as  Homo  diluvii  testis. 

^  A.  Geikie,  "Text-book  of  Geology,"  p.  1270  (ed.  4,  1903). 

55 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

We  must  now  consider  a  difficult  question,  the 
discussion  of  which  was  postponed  in  the  earlier 
part  of  this  chapter,  namely,  whether  we  were  right 
in  regarding  the  great  masses  of  crystalline  schists, 
with  which  some  marbles  are  associated,  as  distinctly 
more  ancient  than  any  comparatively  unaltered  sedi- 
mentary rocks  to  which  a  date  can  be  assigned. 
It  was  formerly  supposed  that  these  schists  might 
be  representatives  of  strata  of  almost  any  geological 
age  ;  often  Palaeozoic,  sometimes  Mesozoic  ;  the  only 
limit  being  that  as  the  process  of  metamorphism  had 
to  be  carried  on  at  a  considerable  distance  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  it  was  not  very  likely  that 
Tertiary  strata,  thus  affected,  would  have  been 
exposed  by  denudation.  The  earlier  geologists, 
however,  held  that  these  rocks  were  the  records  of 
a  very  remote  period  and  of  altogether  exceptional 
circumstances  in  the  earth's  history.  This  view  fell 
into  disfavour  as  the  Uniformitarian  hypothesis,  of 
which  the  late  Sir  Charles  Lyell  was  the  leading 
exponent,  gradually  gained  ground,  and  examples 
were  quoted  from  the  Alps  alone  of  crystalline 
schists  of  Silurian,  Carboniferous,  Triassic,  and 
Jurassic  ages.  But  after  that  the  application  of  the 
microscope  to  petrological  research  had  made  our 
knowledge  so  much  more  accurate,  doubts  began  to 
be  expressed  whether  the  Uniformitarian  doctrine, 
though  generally  a  true  one,  had  not  been  sometimes 
pushed  too  far,  and  whether  the  processes  necessary 
for  producing  these  changes  in  sediments,  though 
they  may  never  have  ceased  to  act  somewhere  in  the 
earth's  crust,  could  have  been  carried  on,  during  the 
above-named   eras,    near   enough    to    its    surface    to 

56 


I        a    **     *     • 


From  a  photo  by^  {.Dr.  Tempest  Anderson. 

5.       NORTHERN   SIDE   OF   AIGUILLES   DES   CHARMOZ. 


To  face  p.  56. 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

admit  of  the  results  being  now  exposed.  At  the 
present  time  many,  probably  the  majority  of  geolo- 
gists, still  maintain  the  Lyellian  opinion,  which  is 
not  surprising,  because  it  is  that  generally  taught  by 
text-books  ;  and  followers  of  this  science  are  too  apt 
to  forget  Lyell's  own  maxim,  that  in  the  education 
of  a  geologist  travel  was  the  first,  second,  and  third 
requisite,  and  to  prefer  long  hours  in  a  library,  with 
an  occasional  personally-conducted  rush  over  sections, 
to  the  prolonged  and  often  expensive  process  of 
work  in  the  field,  with  constant  testing  of  its  results 
under  the  microscope. 

In  many  cases  the  evidence,  supplied  by  the  Alps, 
in  favour  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  rival  views  Is  more 
or  less  inconclusive  ;  but  the  four  to  which,  for  want  of 
more  space,  we  must  restrict  any  notice  in  detail,  have 
been  at  different  times  supposed  to  be  decisive  for 
the  occurrence  of  crystalline  schists  of  Palaeozoic  or 
Mesozoic  age. 

I.  The  magnificent  crags  forming  the  northern  face 
of  the  Oberland  range  between  the  glens  of  the  Black 
and  White  Ltitschine  exhibit  masses  of  gneiss  alter- 
nating with  limestones  containing  Jurassic  fossils. 
These  sections  were  supposed  to  demonstrate  that 
all  the  beds  belonged  to  the  same  geological  period, 
and  that  some  kind  of  selective  metamorphism  had 
converted  one  set  of  sediments  into  gneiss  while  it  had 
left  the  other  comparatively  untouched.  It  is  not, 
however,  necessary  to  linger  over  this  instance,  for  it 
is  now  generally  admitted  that  the  apparent  sequence 
is  due  to  intense  folding,  coupled  with  that  overthrust 
faulting,  which  will  be  more  fully  noticed  in  a  later 
chapter.     In  fact,  these  sections  did  not  fully  satisfy 

57 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

even  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  for  so  long  ago  as  1865  he 
made  the  following  cautious  statement:  *'  I  was  unable 
to  convince  myself  that  the  distinct  alternations  of 
highly  crystalline  with  unaltered  strata  .  .  .  might 
not  ...  be  explained  by  supposing  great  solid 
wedges  of  intrusive  gneiss  to  have  been  forced  in 
laterally  between  strata  to  which  I  found  them  to  be 
in  many  sections  unconformable.  The  superposition 
also  of  the  gneiss  to  the  oolite  may,  in  some  cases,  be 
due  to  a  reversal  of  the  original  position  of  the  beds 
in  a  region  where  the  convulsions  have  been  on  so 
stupendous  a  scale." ' 

2.  Some  of  the  strata  in  the  remarkable  infold  of 
sedimentary  rocks  of  Carboniferous  age  between 
typical  Alpine  gneisses  which  is  exposed  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Rhone  Valley  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Vernayaz  were  supposed  to  exhibit  a  considerable 
development  of  secondary  mica.""  I  have  already 
shown  that  the  breccias  in  this  interesting  group  con- 
tain, in  addition  to  a  mass  of  fragments  from  the 
ordinary  crystalline  rocks  of  that  region,  a  fair  number 
representing  quite  ordinary  sediments,  and  that  the 
scales  of  mica  so  common  in  the  matrix  have  them- 
selves been  derived  from  crystalline  rocks  and  were 
not  formed  after  it  had  been  deposited. 3  But  as  this 
case  also  has  been  tacitly  dropped,  we  need  not  dwell 
further  upon  it. 

At  one  place  a  limestone  of  Carboniferous  age 
might   readily  be   supposed  to  have   been  converted 

'  Lyell,  "  Elements  of  Geology,"  6th  edition,  p.  752. 

2  In  a  crystalline  rock,  like  granite,  white  mica  may  be  developed 
from  the  felspar  as  a  result  of  crushing  (see  p.  16),  but  this  (so  far  as 
I  know)  is  always  minute.  3  Qeol.  Mag.^  1883,  p.  507. 

58 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

into  a  true  marble,  such  as  one  of  those  associated 
with  the  crystalline  schists.  This  is  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Rhone  Valley,  near  the  village  of  Saillon,  about 
half  a  league  from  Saxon.  The  rock  is  quarried  a  few 
hundred  feet  above  the  bed  of  the  valley,  and  can  thus 
be  readily  studied.  Compact  in  texture,  and  varying 
in  colour  from  a  pure  white  to  a  darkish  green,  it  is 
well  banded  and  sometimes  "  crumpled,"  so  that  parts 
of  it,  at  first  sight,  present  a  very  close  resemblance 
to,  and  are  hardly  less  beautiful  than,  the  well-known 
cipollino  from  Euboea.  But  more  careful  study, 
even  in  the  field  and  still  more  with  the  micro- 
scope, shows  this  resemblance  to  be  illusory.  The 
white  part  of  the  marble  is  much  less  coarse  in  grain 
than  that  associated  with  the  crystalline  schists,  and  is 
very  similar  to  the  purer  limestones  of  the  Jurassic  or 
the  dolomites  of  the  Trias.  The  colour-bands  are  not 
due  to  the  presence  of  crystalline  silicates,  as  in  the 
cipollino,  but  only  to  some  amorphous  material  too 
minute  for  identification  even  under  the  microscope. 
The  latter  rock,  in  fact,  is  one  in  which  all  the 
constituents  have  been  completely  recrystallised,  while 
in  that  from  Saillon  this  process  has  only  affected  the 
calcite — a  difference  which,  we  need  hardly  add,  is  of 
the  highest  importance. 

3.  Stems  of  fossil  plants,  possibly  calamites,  were 
asserted  to  occur  in  a  gneiss  near  Guttannen  in  the 
Haslithal.  The  specimen  was  assigned  a  place  of 
honour  in  the  Geological  Museum  at  Berne  ;  a  full 
description  and  illustrations  of  it  were  given  in  the 
official  publication  of  the  Swiss  Geological  Survey,^ 
and  it  was  quoted,  as  if  conclusive  evidence,  in  the 
'  Beitrdge  zur  geoi.  Karte  der  Schweiz^  Lief,  xxiv  (1888),  pt.  iv.  p.  1 6 1 . 

59 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

Journal  ot  the  London  Geological  Society  in  1890.^ 
After  twice  examining  the  specimen  in  the  Berne 
Museum,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  experts 
who  had  identified  the  objects  as  plants  were  prob- 
ably right,  but  that  the  matrix  had  more  resemblance 
to  an  arkose  ^  than  to  a  true  gneiss.  A  visit  to 
Guttannen  in  1891  confirmed  my  suspicions,  for 
this  gneiss  was  sufficiently  different  in  aspect  from 
the  normal  orneiss  of  that  and  other  districts  in  the 
Alps  to  make  the  erratics  from  each,  as  a  rule, 
readily  distinguishable,  and  the  former  was  occa- 
sionally associated  with  beds  with  a  still  closer 
likeness  to  somewhat  altered  sediments.  I  made  a 
second  examination  in  1895,  and  two  years  later 
visited  the  outcrop  of  the  ''  Guttannen  gneiss  "  at  the 
foot  of  the  Gauli  glacier,  each  time  with  a  fellow- 
geologist.  Neither  expedition  furnished  conclusive 
proof  as  to  the  real  nature  of  the  rock,  and  on  our 
return  we  again  examined  the  specimen  in  the 
Museum,  from  the  ends  of  which  pieces  had  been 
recently  cut.  The  result  is  expressed  in  the  following 
words,  written  at  the  time  :  *'  If  plants,  they  are  very 
rough  and  ill-preserved ;  but  if  the  result  of  mechanical 
movements,  they  are  of  a  most  extraordinary  and 
exceptional  nature,  and  the  rock  certainly  has  the 
look  of  an  '  arkose  '  rather  than  of  a  true  gneiss."  But 
in  1898  Messrs.  E.  von  Fellenberg  and  C.  Schmidt 
published  an  elaborate  memoir  on  the  supposed  plant- 
stems,3   in  which  they  abandoned  this  view  of  their 

*  Quart.  Jour.  Geol.  Soc,  vol.  xlvi.  (1890),  p.  237. 
^  An  arkose  is  a  grit  composed  of  minerals  derived  from  granite. 
3  Separat-Abdruck  aus  den  Mitt,  der  Naturfors.  Gesell.  in  Bern. 
Jahrgang  1898. 

60 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

origin,  and  relegated  them  to  the  motley  company 
of  lusus  naturcE,  but  demonstrated  (though  leaving 
unnoticed  some  minor  points  of  interest)  that  the  rock 
was  a  true  gneiss.  Thus  closed  a  "■  comedy  of  errors," 
in  which  none  of  those  who  have  taken  a  hand  in 
the  game  can  claim  to  ''score  honours";  but  in  any 
case  the  plant-bearing  Carboniferous  gneiss  of  Gut- 
tannen  has  gone  to  the  limbo  appointed  for  exploded 
hypotheses. 

4.  The  occurrence  of  schists  of  Jurassic  age  in 
districts  other  than  the  Northern  Oberland  was  again 
asserted  after  the  error  about  these  had  been  generally 
admitted.  The  value  of  the  evidence  will  be  sufficiently 
demonstrated  by  considering  three  of  the  most  notable 
instances.  Sections  in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Reuss 
afford  the  first,  the  most  notable  occurring  between 
the  southern  opening  of  the  Urnerloch  and  the  village 
of  Andermatt,  and  its  members  are  traversed  by  the 
St.  Gotthard  tunnel.  The  most  important  part  of  this 
section  (Fig.  1),^  which  presents  a  very  perplexing 
succession  of  rocks,  is  at  the  northern  end.  Here  a 
fairly  coarse  gneiss,  through  a  glen  in  which  the  Reuss 
escapes  from  the  Urserenthal,  is  succeeded  by  a  dark 
phyllite.2  Next  to  this,  without  any  signs  of  tran- 
sition, is  a  crystalline  marble,  occasionally  micaceous  ; 
that  is  followed  by  a  dark  limestone  of  very  ordinary 
type  ;  and  then  comes  a  gneissoid  rock,  different  from 
the  first  one,  and  probably  a  crushed  granite.  Another 
jumble,  as  one  may  irreverently  call  it,  succeeds  this 
before  we  reach  the  crystalline  schists  and  gneisses  of 

*  Quart.  Jour.   Geol.   Soc^  vol.  xlvi.  (1890)  p.    191,  and  vol.  1. 
(1894),  p.  287. 

*  A  slate  rather  more  than  usually  affected  by  pressure. 

61 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

the  Lepontine  range.  The  tunnel  exhibited  a  generally 
similar  succession,  and  the  same  close  apposition  of  a 
crystalline  calc-mica  schist  or  marble  and  an  ordinary 
limestone  can  be  seen  in  other  parts  of  the  Reuss 
valley  above  Andermatt  and  on  the  Furka  Pass  itself. 
Two  interpretations  of  these  sections  are  possible,  and 
each  presents  grave  difficulties.  If  we  maintain  that 
the  Altkirche  marble  and  the  calc-mica  schist  are 
members  of  the  Archsean  series,  we  must  assume 
folding  and  thrust-faulting  so  peculiar  as  to  be  difficult 
to  explain  ;  while  if  we  regard  them,  like  the  neigh- 


FiG.  I. — Section  at  Altkirche. 

Length  rather  less  than  half  a  mile.     The  upper  figure  represents  outcrops 
higher  up  the  hill. 

1  =  Micaceous  gneiss.  4  =  Limestone,  &c. 

2  =  Phyllite.  5  =  Sericite  gneiss. 

3  =  Marble.  6  =  Phyllite  (Carboniferous). 
3'  =  Second  mass  of  marble.  7  =  Hospenthal  schists. 

X  =  Covered  ground. 

bouring  dark  limestones,  as  belonging  to  the  Jurassic 
system,  we  must  postulate  an  amount  of  selective 
metamorphism  of  which,  so  far  as  I  know,  no  other 
example  can  be  found.  One  thing,  however,  is  certain, 
that  the  chemical  changes  in  the  micaceous  marble 
were  completed  before  that  rock  was  exposed  to  the 
pressure  which  has  affected  the  ordinary  sediments. 
Both  sides,  therefore,  may  claim  a  verdict  of  "not 
proven,"  but  I  am  not  afraid  to  maintain  that  the 
former  view  is  much  the  more  probable. 

62 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

The  second  instance  is  on  the  south  side  of  the 
St.  Gotthard  Pass,  in  the  Val  Canaria,  which  enters  the 
Val  Bedretto  just  below  Airolo.^  The  most  remark- 
able of  the  sections  may  be  seen  on  its  right  bank,  in 
the  bed  of  a  small  glen  ;  and  it  was  mapped  and  drawn 
in  section  by  K.  von  Fritsch  in  his  preliminary  surveys 
for  the  St.  Gotthard  tunnel.  Here  a  singular  suc- 
cession of  rocks  is  apparently  infolded  between  a  mass 


Fig.  2.— Section  in  Val  Canaria. 
A  Dark  garnet  schist. 

B   Two-mica  schist.     (2)  Thin  band  of  same. 

C   Calc-mica  schist,     (i)  Marble  forming  a  small  cascade  (marble  left  white). 
R  Rauchwacke.     (3)  Breccia  of  schist  fragments.     (4)  Thin  zone  of  variable 

schists. 
G  Gneiss. 


of  garnet-actinolite  gneiss,  like  that  outcropping  on 
the  southern  slopes  of  the  St.  Gotthard  road,  near  the 
Val  Tremola,  and  the  more  normal  gneiss  exposed  in 
the  bed  of  the  Val  Bedretto,  just  below  Airolo.  In 
descending  from  the  upper  to  the  lower  of  these 
gneisses,    we   pass   first  over   a   bed   of  soft,   rather 

^   Quart.  Jour.  Geol.  Soc,  vol.  xlvi.   1890),  pp.   190-217,  vol.  1. 
(1894),  pp.   297-301. 

63 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

crumbly  yellowish  limestone,  known  In  the  Alps 
by  the  name  of  "  rauchwacke,"  the  Triassic  age  of 
which  is  universally  admitted.  This  is  followed  by  a 
group  of  the  following  crystalline  schists  :  dark  mica- 
schists,  with  garnets  of  similar  colour ;  a  silvery  very 
micaceous  schist  (Grubenmann's  two-mica  schist)  :  and 
calc-mica  schists,  passing  locally  into  a  marble — all  of 
which  have  been  conspicuously  affected  by  pressure — 
and  then  comes  a  thick  mass  of  rauchwacke,  contain- 
ing some  gypsum  and  dolomite,  from  which  we  pass 
to  the  other  gneiss.  At  first  sight  we  appear  to  be 
dealing  with  an  ordinary  fold,  and  if  so,  since  the 
rauchwacke  undoubtedly  belongs  to  the  Trias,  the 
schists  must  be  metamorphosed  members  of  the  Jurassic 
system.  But  we  find  on  closer  examination  that  not 
only  does  the  bed  of  '*  black  garnet "  schist  occur 
three  times  in  positions  which  cannot  be  explained 
by  a  simple  fold,  but  also  that  the  rauchwacke 
contains  fragments  in  abundance  from  most  of  the 
varieties  of  the  schists  which,  on  the  supposition  that 
they  overlie  It,  must  be  later  in  date.  ^  Obviously,  then, 
the  rauchwacke  is  a  much  more  recent  rock  than  these 
crystalline  schists,  and  their  apparent  superposition  and 
the  folding  can  only  be  a  rather  remarkable  result  of 
overthrust  faulting,  as  shown  in  the  diagrams  (Figs. 
2  and  3),  the  former  of  which  represents  the  actual 
succession  of  the  rocks  exposed  in  the  bed  of  the 
ravine,  the  latter  the  probable  interpretation  of  the 
section. 

»  The  difficulties  arising  from  other  sections  in  this  district  are 
described  in  my  papers  already  mentioned.  The  only  rock  I  have 
not  succeeded  in  finding  among  the  fragments  is  the  black  garnet 
variety. 

64 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

The  third  instance  may  be  most  fairly  stated  in 
the  words  of  one  of  its  advocates:  ** Crystalline 
schistose  rocks  of  Mesozoic  age  exist  at  Scopi,  in 
the  Urserenthal,  on  Piora,  at  the  Nufenen  Pass,  in 
the  Val  Canaria,  in  the  Ganterthal,  and  numerous 
other  places ;  such  rocks  are,  (a)  Clay-slates  with 
mica,  garnets,  zoisite,  staurolite,  rutile,  and  belem- 
nites,  the  latter  being  crystalline  and  granular,  (d) 
Clay-slates,  with  mica,  staurolite  and  garnet,  alternating 


Fig.  3. — Interpretation  of  Section  in  Val  Canaria. 
Lettering  as  on  Fig.  2.     F  =  Faults. 


with  the  belemnite  schists.  .  .  .  (a)  Micaceous  phyllites 
and  calcareous  mica-schists,  (e)  Marble  with  mica, 
which  has  undergone  linear  stretching,  going  over 
into  Malm-kalk  with  crinoids.''^ 

The  cases  already  mentioned  make  it  clear  that 
these  very  positive  statements  require  a  careful  scru- 

'^  Statement  printed  in  Quart  Jour.  Geol.  Soc,  vol.  xlvi.  (1890), 
p.  236.  See  also  Geol.  Congress^  Compte  Rendu  de  la  4™^  Session, 
p.  80,  and  Nature,  September  27  and  October  4,  1888. 

65  E 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

tiny,   and  that  they   may  have  no  better  foundation 
than  a  lax  use  of  the  term  schist,   which  has  led  to 
a  confounding  of  two  very  distinct  rock  groups,^  and 
the  assumption  that  an  apparent  sequence  can   only 
be  explained  as  a  chronological  succession.      But,  as  I 
have    already   shown,    the   most   important   of  them 
are  actually  erroneous.     Considerable   masses   of  an 
impure  calcareous  Jurassic  rock,  containing  belemnites 
and  fragments  of  crinoids,  are  infolded  with  crystalline 
schists,   such   as    those   mentioned   above,    and    with 
certain    gneisses,  in   more   than   one    region   of  the 
Lepontine  Alps.      One  strip  runs  along  the  left  bank 
of  the    Urserenthal,   as   already  stated,    and   crosses 
the    Furka    Pass.     Another   forms   a   large   part   of 
the  mountain  called  Scopi  (10,500  feet),  which  rises  on 
the   east   side   of  the    Lukmanier  Pass,  and   is  also 
exposed   to   the  west  of  it  in   the  Alp  Vitgira.      It 
is  underlain  by  rauchwacke,   and  as   patches  of  this 
rock,  very  variable  both   in    quantity  and    character, 
occur  at  intervals  all  the  way  westwards  to  beyond 
Airolo,  a  broken  fold  of  Mesozoic  strata  probably  once 
extended  down  the  Val  Piora   to  the  Val  Bedretto. 
Nearer  to  the  head  of  the  latter  the  dark  fossiliferous 
Liassic  rock  appears  above  All'acqua,  and  can  be  well 
studied    in   outcrops    and   abundant   erratics   on    the 
way  to  the  Nufenen  Pass  (8,005  feet).    Here  it  swerves 
slightly  to  the  south,   runs  along  the  upper  part  of 
the   Nufenenstock    (9,400  feet),    and  appears  on  the 
higher   slopes   leading   to   the  Gries   Pass   from    the 
Eginenthal,  west  of  which  I  have  not  followed  it.    The 
group  of  true  schists,  already  stated  to  occur  in  the 

'  They  are  laid  down  quite  correctly  in  Karl  von  Fritsch's  map  of 
the  St.  Gotthard,  published  in  1873. 

66 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

Val  Canaria,  is  generally  to  be  found  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  these  Jurassic  rocks  and  the  under- 
lying rauchwacke,  but  it  extends  over  a  much  larger 
area.  Its  members  are  thoroughly  crystalline  ;  they 
contain  well-developed  mica,  both  white  and  black, 
garnets,  also  generally  dark  in  colour,  and  occasionally 
rather  large  and  well-developed  staurolites.  Fragments 
of  some  of  these  schists  occur  in  the  rauchwacke, 
showing  that  in  Triassic  ages  they  had  already  attained 
to  their  present  condition.  The  calcareous  constituent 
of  the  Liassic  rock  and  of  the  enclosed  fossils  has 
become  more  or  less  crystalline,  but  that  change 
proves  very  little,  the  flakes  of  mica  in  it  and  in  the 
rauchwacke,  when  of  more  than  microscopic  size, 
are  derivative  and  so  are  the  rutiles,  which  may 
also  be  seen  in  the  enclosed  fragments.  No  doubt 
the  dark  Liassic  rock  contains  in  some  localities — 
as  for  instance  near  the  Lukmanier,  Nufenen,  and 
Gries  Passes — a  number  of  *' home-born"  minerals; 
some  more  or  less  spheroidal,  others  prismatic  in 
shape — the  "knoten"  and  '' prismen  "  of  German 
writers  from  at  least  the  date  of  K.  von  Fritsch — 
but  these  are  neither  garnets  nor  staurolites,  nor 
minerals  with  any  affinity  to  them.  So  ill-developed 
and  so  impure  are  they  that  though  it  is  easy  to  say 
what  they  are  not,  it  is  quite  the  reverse  to  determine 
their  precise  nature,  either  with  the  microscope  or 
by  chemical  analysis.  The  results  given  by  Von 
Fritsch  prove  the  **knoten"  to  be  some  hydrous  sili- 
cate of  alumina  and  lime,  which — probably  because  of 
the  numerous  impurities — does  not  correspond  with 
any  mineral  known  to  me,  and  the  ''  prismen "  to 
have  some  resemblance  to  dipyre.     The   microscope 

67 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

confirms  this,  and  Indicates  the  presence  of  a  third 
mineral  rather  like  a  colourless  chloritoid.  Though  I 
have  examined  several  slices  of  these  ''knot  and 
prism  "  rocks,  I  have  never  seen  a  trace  of  a  garnet 
or  a  staurolite,  except  in  one  case,  where,  in  a  layer 
of  breccia  near  the  bottom  of  the  Jurassic  beds  on 
the  Alp  Vitgira,  a  garnet  occurred,  in  an  indubitable 
fragment  from  the  usual  dark  crystalline  schists  and 
other  detritus  from  the  same,  side  by  side  with  a 
bit  of  a  crinoid.  These  **  knot  and  prism "  beds, 
though  rather  exceptional  in  character,  show  but 
little  alteration  compared  with  the  various  members 
of  the  crystalline  schists,  and  the  occasional  veins 
and  laminae  of  calcite  in  the  dark  mica-schists 
of  the  latter  have  no  other  resemblance  to  the 
crushed  belemnites  in  the  former  than  that  both 
consist  of  calcite.  In  many  cases,  as  on  the  passes 
already  mentioned,  the  fossiliferous  schistose  Jurassic 
rocks  are  separated  from  the  crystalline  schists 
by  rauchwacke.  Though  not  always  present,  it  is 
sometimes  thick  and  often  contains  fragments  of  the 
schists  ;  but  even  if  the  Jurassic  and  the  dark  crystal- 
line schists  come  in  immediate  sequence — as  they 
do  once  or  twice  near  the  Gries  Pass — they  can  be 
distinguished  without  much  difficulty,  however  crushed 
the  latter  may  be.  Thus  the  crystalline  schists,  what- 
ever may  be  their  geological  age,  are  far  older  than 
the  beginning  of  the  Mesozoic  era,  and  the  rocks 
belonging  to  the  latter  never  contain  either  garnets 
or  staurolites,  except  as  fragments  derived  from  the 
former.  These  minerals  have  not  been  "developed 
(as  now)  in  places  that  have  undergone  crushing," 
nor  have  '*  even  Liassic  slates  with  fossils  been  con- 

68 


Materials  of  the  Alps 

verted  into  garnetiferous  mica-schists,"  nor  has 
''the  boundary  between  the  old  crystalline  schists 
and  real  sediments  in  the  Alps  been  obliterated  by 
such  processes  of  dynamic  metamorphism  and  the 
proper  character  of  the  rock  altered  so  as  to  render 
recognition  impossible."^  Facts,  not  personal  opinions, 
contradict  these  statements,  which  have  no  better 
foundation  than  mistakes  in  elementary  mineralogy. 
Some  geological  maps  indicate,  in  more  than  one 
part  of  the  Alps,  a  group  of  rocks,  uncertain  in  physi- 
cal characters  and  geological  age,  which  are  called  by 
French  authors  schistes  lustrdes  and  by  German  Glanz- 
schiefer  or  Bilndnerschiefer.  These  are  a  fertile  source 
of  confusion  and  a  camp  of  refuge  to  believers  in  selec- 
tive metamorphism.  The  confusion  originated  in 
days  before  rocks  had  been  studied  under  the  micro- 
scope so  that  some  outward  similarity  could  mask 
inherent  differences.  Thus  the  term  covers  rocks 
which  are  simply  phyllites,  or  slates  in  which  enough 
of  a  very  minute  mica  has  been  developed  to  give 
the  surfaces  a  silky  rather  than  a  glimmering  aspect. 
It  also  covers  true  crystalline  schists,  which  present 
some  resemblance  to  the  last,  because  they  have 
suffered  so  exceptionally  from  crushing  that  their 
constituent  minerals  have  been  almost  pulverised. 
Such  a  rock  may  be  locally  difficult  to  distinguish 
from  a  phyllite,  but  by  careful  work  in  the  field  it 
can  generally  be  traced  into  a  normal  schist.  In 
the  one  case  the  effect  of  pressure  has  been  con- 
structive, in  the  other  destructive.  It  may  sometimes 
happen,  though  more  rarely  than  is  often   supposed, 

'  Quoted  from  a  translation  of  the  Congress  Report.    Nature^ 
September,  1888,  p.  524. 

69 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

that  Nature  has  so  blurred  the  page  as  to  make  the 
record  illegible,  but  this  simply  makes  the  particular 
specimen  of  no  more  use  to  the  geologist  than  a 
defaced  inscription    is   to   the  historian. 

Notwithstanding  the  facts  which  have  been 
mentioned  above,  maps  and  memoirs  still  continue 
to  assert  the  existence  of  gneisses  and  crystalline 
schists  of  late  Palaeozoic  or  Mesozoic  age,  such 
as  the  *'  Permian  "  Rofna  gneiss  between  Spliigen  and 
Hinterrhein  and  the  *'  Triassic  and  Jurassic "  cry- 
stalline rocks  in  the  Zermatt  region  of  the  Pen 
nines.  I  can  venture  to  assert,  from  a  personal 
knowledge  of  both,  that  no  valid  evidence  can  be 
found  in  favour  of  the  identifications.  The  former  has 
every  sign  of  being  a  granite,  which  in  its  upward 
course  has  carried  with  it  some  fragments  from  an 
older  rock  ;  while  all  the  support  I  can  find  for  the 
latter  view  is  that  the  crystalline  schists  have  some- 
times "  nipped  in  "  a  bit  of  rauchwacke,  much  as  in  the 
cases  already  described,  while  they  are  identical  in 
character  with  those  which  in  most  places  are  clearly 
proved  to  be  much  older  than  that  rock. 

In  the  Scotch  Highlands  the  Silurian  gneisses  and 
schists  of  the  north-west  have  vanished  at  the  touch 
of  Lapworth's  hammer,  and  the  confused  horde  of 
the  southern  Dalradians  is  now  being  marshalled 
into  order  ;  this  will  also  happen  in  the  Alps  when  it 
has  been  recognised  that  knowledge  acquired  by  the 
microscope,  as  well  as  experience  in  the  field,  is 
necessary  in  order  to  solve  their  problems,  and  that 
the  hypothesis  of  uniformity  ought  not  to  be  so 
stated  as  to  be  inconsistent  with  that  of  evolution. 


70 


CHAPTER  III 

HOW  THE  ALPS   GREW 

The  Alps  are  not  a  simple,  perhaps  not  a  single, 
group  of  mountain  ranges,  extending  from  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Gratz  to  that  of  the  Mediterranean.  If 
we  examine  a  geological  map,  such  as  that  of  Noe, 
we  shall  see  that  their  core  (the  older  crystalline 
rocks)  does  not  form  one  great  curving  mass  flanked 
on  either  side  with  later  sediments,  or  even  a  line 
of  islands  similarly  connected,  but  is  more  like  two 
pistol-shaped  masses  pointing  in  the  same  direction, 
and  so  arranged  that  the  barrel  of  the  one  touches  the 
handle  of  the  other.  The  outer  zone  of  sediments 
is  more  uniform  on  the  northern  than  on 'the  southern 
side,  for  there  it  runs  in  a  practically  unbroken  sweep 
from  the  one  end  to  the  other  The  southern 
zone  follows  the  peculiar  flexure  in  the  crystalline 
cores,  and  after  a  time  ceases  to  appear,  probably  as 
a  result  of  denudation,  on  the  Italian  side  of  the 
western  segment.  But,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
the  Alps  cannot  be  completely  separated  from  other 
mountain  ranges  ;  they  are  connected  on  the  one  side 
with  the  Apennines,  on  the  other  with  the  Dinaric 
ranges.  The  Jura  is  like  an  outpost,  which  still 
keeps  in  touch  with  them  at  its  southern  end.  But 
the   chain,  as   a   whole,   forms   part,   as  indicated  in 

71 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

Suess's  classic  work,  of  a  great  mountain  system 
related  in  the  same  way  to  the  Mediterranean,  of 
which  the  Carpathians,  the  Pyrenees,  the  Atlas, 
and  other  mountains  of  minor  importance,  form  a 
part.  On  this,  however,  we  must  not  dwell  ;  at  the 
present  moment  it  will  suffice  to  notice  the  existence 
of  these  complications,  because,  as  we  shall  see,  they 
help  much  in  revealing  to  us  the  growth  of  the  Alps. 

The  eastern  portion  of  the  chain  is  the  simpler 
in  structure.  It  consists  of  a  central,  mainly  crystal- 
line, range,  forming  the  watershed,  of  a  northern 
and  a  southern  parallel  range,  composed  mainly  of 
sedimentary  rocks,  each  of  which  is  flanked  by  a 
subordinate  zone  of  foothills,  the  northern  of  which 
attains  rather  the  greater  importance.  As  might 
be  expected  from  the  structure,  the  streams  descend- 
ing on  either  side  of  the  water-parting,  and  those  from 
the  inner  sides  of  the  two  ranges  parallel  to  it,  are 
received  by  a  system  of  trench-like  valleys,  from  which 
they  escape  either  eastwards  towards  the  Austrian 
lowland,  or  southwards  to  the  Adige,  or  northwards  to 
the  Danube.  The  latter  river  also  receives  the  east- 
ward-flowing water  through  the  channels  of  the 
Save,  the  Drave,  and  the  Mur.  The  rock  masses 
in  the  eastern  division  of  the  Alps  are  less  con- 
spicuously folded  than  in  the  western  one ;  thus  the 
parallel  drainage  tracks  are  neither  initiated  by 
anticlinal  fractures  nor  determined  by  synclinal 
troughs.  They  are  bounded,  roughly  speaking,  on 
the  one  side  by  the  sloping  flank  of  the  anticlinal 
core,  on  the  other  by  the  basset-edges  of  the 
stratified  rocks,  beneath  which  that  core  is  plunging. 
These    sedimentaries    are    of   Secondary    or   earlier 

72 


How  the  Alps  Grew 

Tertiary  age,  though  here  and  there  we  may  find 
small  and  often  insular  patches  of  Palaeozoic  strata 
from  the    Silurian  upwards. 

It  is  not  easy  to  fix  precisely  the  western  boun- 
dary of  this  division,  but  perhaps  the  Brenner 
Pass,  though  obviously  open  to  objection,  may  serve 
as  well  as  any  other ;  for  beyond  this  the  structure 
gradually  becomes,  as  already  indicated,  more  com- 
plicated by  reason  of  a  southward  twist  of  the  water- 
shed, so  that,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  the  sources  of 
the  Inn  lie  far  to  the  south  of  the  head-waters  of  the 
Eisack  and  the  Etsch,  the  united  streams  of  which  ulti- 
mately pass  out  from  the  mountains  to  find  their  way 
to  the  Adriatic  over  the  plain  of  the  Po.  This  dis- 
placement of  the  watershed,  by  whatever  it  may  have 
been  caused,  produces  a  marked  modification  in  the 
structure-plan  of  the  Alps,  for  the  line  of  parting 
bends  sharply  southwards  from  the  Malser  Heide, 
so  as  to  sweep  round  by  the  Maloja  Pass,  after  which 
it  resumes  for  a  time  its  former  course,  and  with  this 
the  zone  of  the  southern  sedimentaries  rapidly  at- 
tenuates and  ultimately  vanishes.  The  northern 
zone,  on  the  contrary,  attains  to  greater  importance, 
becomes  more  intensely  folded,  displays  its  underlying 
foundation  of  crystalline  rocks,  and  in  the  Bernese 
Oberland  has  thrown  up  parts  of  it  to  elevations  little 
less  than  those  attained  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
principal  watershed.  The  Alps  now  begin  to  sweep 
round  more  distinctly  to  the  south.  The  northern 
range,  after  an  interval  of  minor  altitude,  again  rises 
till  it  forms  in  Mont  Blanc  the  culminating  point  of 
the  chain,  and  at  the  same  time  becomes,  as  will 
presently    be   explained,  more   complicated  in   struc- 

73 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

ture.  Together  with  this  the  watershed  gradually 
approaches  towards  the  Piedmontese  lowland,  till  at 
last,  as  at  the  other  end,  it  splits  up  to  feed  a  group 
of  rivers,  which  in  this  case  flow  southward  towards 
the  Mediterranean  instead  of  eastwards  to  the 
Danube. 

Another  fact  must  be  briefly  noticed  before  dis- 
cussing these  structures  in  more  detail.  West  of 
the  longitude  of  Venice  the  map  shows  the  above- 
mentioned  folds  to  be  affected,  especially  in  the  more 
southern  parts,  by  another  and  less  conspicuous  series 
of  anticlines,  parted  by  synclines,  which  strike  N.N.E. 
and  S.S.W.  The  Lago  di  Garda  lies  in  a  con- 
spicuous example  of  the  latter,  which  may  probably 
be  traced  over  the  Brenner  Pass.  Another  one, 
less  well  marked,  seems  to  have  suggested  the  course 
of  the  Upper  Inn.  West  of  this  river  these  folds 
are  for  a  time  less  obvious,  though  they  may  be 
traced  with  some  difficulty  in  the  Pennine  chain. 
But  from  a  little  west  of  the  meridian  of  Turin  this 
transverse  folding  becomes  so  pronounced  that  it  may 
be  intimately  connected  with,  perhaps  be  the  deter- 
mining cause  of,  that  southward  sweep  of  the  chain 
which  brinofs  it  to  the  Mediterranean  coast.  We 
naturally  ask  whether  these  two  sets  of  flexures  are 
the  results  of  simultaneous  or  of  separate  movements. 
The  general  uniformity  of  the  northern  margin  of 
the  chain  seems  in  favour  of  the  former  view  ;  the 
broken  line  of  the  southern  one,  and  the  fact  that 
in  the  more  central  part  of  the  chain  the  angle 
between  the  axes  of  the  two  sets  of  flexures  is  a 
larore  one,  accord  better  with  the  latter. 

Another  fact  greatly  complicates  the  problem.    The 

74 


How  the  Alps  Grew 

rocks  composing  the  Alps  did  not  consist,  prior 
to  the  folding,  of  a  series  of  strata  uniformly  super- 
posed one  on  the  other,  like  a  series  of  quilts,  but 
were  not  seldom  very  irregular  in  form.  The  chain 
as  it  now  stands  incorporates  relics  of  highland, 
perhaps  even  mountain,  ranges.  One  such  existed 
in  the  Carboniferous  period,  as  is  proved  by  the 
breccias  and  conglomerates  mentioned  in  a  former 
chapter ;  and  this  period  was  followed  by  one  of 
intense  folding  and  effusion  of  molten  rock,  which 
though  local,  was  in  one  district  on  a  large  scale. 
The  Trias,  with  at  least  the  earlier  members  of  the 
Jurassic  system,  was  deposited  upon  a  land  surface 
so  irregular  that  there  must  have  been  a  vertical 
difference  of  several  hundreds  of  feet  between  its 
highest  and  its  lowest  points,  even  in  the  western 
region.  The  present  chain  also,  as  we  have  already 
said,  is  obviously  the  result  of  two  epochs  of  suc- 
cessive movement,  separated  by  an  interval  of 
repose,  during  which  denudation  was  both  incessant 
and  on  an  extensive  scale.  But  since  a  mass  variable 
in  strength  must  differ  much  in  its  resistance  to 
stresses,  the  effects  of  these,  perhaps  in  themselves 
not  uniform,  must  often  have  been  extremely  compli- 
cated. It  is  also  obvious  that,  as  has  been  experi- 
mentally illustrated,  very  different  results  will  be 
produced  in  a  flexible  mass  which  possesses  compara- 
tive freedom  of  lateral  movement,  and  in  one  which 
is  squeezed  up  against  an  unyielding  barrier.  In 
the  former  case,  relief  will  be  found  in  a  series  of 
undulations,  which  die  away  gradually ;  in  the  other, 
the  mass  will  be  doubled  up  into  superposed  folds, 
perhaps    with    fracture   and    overthrusting.      But  the 

75 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

complications  thus  produced,  though  often  very  con- 
siderable, should  be  of  minor  importance  when  the 
Alpine  chain  is  regarded  as  a  whole.  And  so  they  are, 
particularly  in  the  more  eastern  part.  But  we  must 
not  forget  that  each  of  the  Alpine  ranges  is  not  so 
much  the  outcome  of  a  single  fold  as  of  a  group  of 
folds  ;  so  that  its  section  is  a  puckered  rather  than  a 
simple  curve ;  and  which  of  these  crumples  should 
form  the  watershed  may  have  been  determined  by 
some  comparatively  trivial  circumstance,  so  that  we 
must  be  prepared  for  considerable  irregularity  in  its 
course,  apart  from  any  diverse  action  in  the  erosive 
agents.  The  Jura,  the  Apennines  (in  many  parts), 
and  the  Dinaric  Alps  are  examples,  with  fewer  com- 
plications, of  processes  which  must  have  been  carried 
to  a  much  greater  extent  in  the  principal  chain. 

When  any  strip  of  the  earth's  crust  is  first  brought 
by  folding  above  sea-level,  the  rain,  as  it  descends 
the  slopes  on  either  side  of  the  crest,  carves  them  into 
furrows.  That  crest  accordingly  becomes  the  water- 
shed, and  will  maintain  this  position  though,  from 
causes  described  in  a  later  chapter,  it  may  be  shifted 
somewhat  in  either  direction.  When  a  second  fold  is 
formed,  parallel  with  the  first,  the  streams  will  be 
checked  in  their  downward  course  and  their  united 
waters  will  either  form  a  lake  or  will  travel  along 
a  channel  parallel  with  the  incipient  ranges.  In 
both  cases  the  water  must  at  last  find  an  exit,  either 
round  the  end  of  the  inferior  fold,  or  by  cutting  an 
overflow  channel  through  the  latter.  This  channel 
will  be  steadily  deepened,  unless  the  second  range,  from 
some  cause  or  other,  rises  so  rapidly  as  to  become  an 
insuperable  barrier  to   the    stream.     In   such  case  a 

76 


How  the  Alps  Grew 

complete  reversal  of  the  drainage  would  be  possible, 
the  original  watershed  becoming  in  its  turn  an  overflow 
channel  for  the  waters  which  have  begun  their  course 
on  the  nearer  side  of  the  crest  of  the  second  fold. 

This,  however,  will  be  a  rather  rare  occurrence ; 
more  commonly  the  outgoing  river  will  be  strong 
enough  to  deepen  the  notch  which  already  exists 
in  the  rising  crest  and  to  keep  open  a  passage  for  its 
waters.  In  a  later  chapter  we  shall  discuss  this  in 
more  detail ;  at  present  it  will  suffice  to  point  to  the 
Rhone  as  an  illustration.  It  carries  the  united  water 
from  the  northern  face  of  the  Pennines  and  the 
southern  one  of  the  Oberland,  along  the  great  trench 
between  these  ranges  as  far  as  Martigny.  There  its 
course  makes  an  abrupt  bend  from  W.S.W.  to 
N.N.W.,  and  it  has  sawn  a  narrow  valley  completely 
through  the  prolongation  of  the  Bernese  Oberland. 
We  must  therefore  suppose — and  it  is  also  true  of  the 
Reuss  and  the  Rhine — that  the  Pennine  ranofe  had  its 
beginning  before  the  Oberland  one,  although  parts  of 
the  latter  have  been  locally  pushed  up  to  a  very 
considerable  elevation.  We  can  obtain  a  clearer 
notion  of  this  portion  of  the  Alps,  during  the  interval 
between  the  first  and  second  of  the  great  movements, 
by  looking  at  the  more  eastern  half,  which  has  better 
preserved  its  original  features.  This  also  was  no 
doubt  affected  by  the  second  set  of  movements  (the 
thrust  in  both  cases  having  come  from  the  south),  for 
the  Miocene  rocks  of  its  foothills,  especially  on  the 
northern  side,  have  been  moderately  uplifted.  But 
those  to  the  west  of  the  Lake  of  Constance  are  carried 
to  a  greater  height,  and  the  huge  pebble  beds,  in 
which  so   much   of  the   earlier   chain   has   found   its 

77 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

grave  and  its  monument,  have  been  carried  to  a 
height  above  sea-level,  In  the  RIgi,  of  5,905  feet,  and 
In  the  Speer  of  6,415  feet.  It  may  seem,  at  first 
sight,  a  little  anomalous  that  the  highest  peaks  of  the 
Oberland  do  not  He  to  the  direct  south  of  the  line 
joining  these  summits,  but  of  one  more  to  the  west, 
which  extends  In  that  direction  to  a  little  beyond 
the  Lake  of  Thun.  But  when  we  remember  that  the 
folding  In  this  second  half  is  even  more  Intense  than 
in  the  other  one,  we  can  understand  that.  In  this  case, 
the  disturbing  forces  would  be  expended  here,  and 
thus  produce  less  effect  in  the  outer  zone. 

Before  proceeding  farther  we  may  call  attention 
to  a  fact  which  may  ultimately  prove  to  be  significant. 
Italy  has  often  been  said  to  resemble  a  boot  in  oudlne, 
but  it  has  been  less  commonly  noticed  that  by  a 
depression  of  considerably  less  than  a  thousand  feet 
the  Lombardo-Venetian  plain  would  be  submerged 
and  the  Adriatic  extended  to  the  feet  of  the  Western 
Alps.  In  such  case  that  sea  would  also  be  boot-like 
in  outline,  and  would  be  surrounded  by  a  crumpled 
border,  the  folds  of  which  would  become  more  Intense 
beneath  the  sole,  and  most  of  all  from  the  ball  of 
the  foot  to  the  beginning  of  the  toes.  Were  it  not 
that  an  elevation  of  the  same  amount  would  convert 
the  Adriatic,  with  the  exception  of  a  basin-like  hollow 
In  its  southern  part,  into  dry  land,  we  should  be 
tempted  to  think  this  a  cause  rather  than  a  con- 
sequence of  its  environment  of  mountain  folds. 

We  assume,  then,  that  the  present  line  of  the  Alpine 
watershed  corresponds  generally  with  that  which 
existed  in  Miocene  times,  although  the  structure  of 
the  outer  zone  in  the  northern  and  western  part  has 

78 


How  the  Alps  Grew 

been  profoundly  modified  by  the  great  movement 
which  became  intense  towards  the  close  of  that 
period.  During  it  also  denudation  occurred  on  a 
grand  scale,  but  the  discussion  of  this  question  must 
be  reserved  for  a  later  chapter ;  in  the  present  one 
we  shall  restrict  ourselves  mainly  to  the  movements 
of  the  crust.  We  seem  to  be  justified  in  supposing 
that  when  mountain-making  pressures  began  to 
operate  soon  after  the  commencement  of  the 
Oligocene  period,  a  solid  mass  of  crystalline  rock 
lay  beneath  the  region  which  now  forms  the  Swiss 
and  French  lowland,  to  which  the  Secondary  and 
early  Tertiary  rocks  (extensions  of  those  now  folded 
into  the  Alps)  formed  a  comparatively  thin  covering. 
This  crystalline  rock  now  emerges,  and  perhaps  even 
then  did  so  to  some  extent,  in  the  highland  regions 
of  Bohemia  and  Bavaria  and  in  those  of  the  Vosges, 
from  which  it  may  be  traced  by  isolated  outcrops, 
west  and  south-west  of  Besan^on,  to  the  highlands 
near  Autun  and  the  great  massif  of  Central  France. 
The  resistance  of  this  solid  outer  region  compelled 
the  softer  rocks  in  the  zone  more  immediately  exposed 
to  the  pressures  to  buckle  up,  and  when  the  zone 
thus  folded  had  become  more  solid,  during  a  period 
of  repose,  this,  on  a  renewal  of  the  pressure,  caused 
its  effect  to  be  concentrated  more  especially  on 
the  outer  margin,  in  which  new  foldings  were 
developed  and  the  older  were  rendered  more  acute, 
until  they  were  torn  across  and  found  relief  in  the 
sliding  of  one  part  over  the  other. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  this  folding  has  taken 
place,  and  on  a  grand  scale,  along  the  northern  zone 
of  the  Alps  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Rhone  and  even 

79 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

beyond  that  river,  but  authorities  differ  as  to  the 
extent  to  which  it  has  been  carried  or,  in  other 
words,  as  to  whether  the  present  juxtaposition  of 
the  strata  is  due  to  the  formation  of  groups  of 
folds,  so  completely  bent  back  and  doubled  as 
occasionally  to  bring  their  upper  parts  into  contact, 
even  for  some  miles,  or  to  the  rupture  of  such  folds 
and  the  sliding  of  the  upper  over  the  lower  portion. 
The  mountains  south  of  the  Lake  of  Wallenstadt 
offer  a  remarkable  example  of  this  problem.  In 
the  upper  parts  of  some  of  them  on  both  the 
northern  and  the  southern  sides,  the  strata,  which 
at  no  great  distance  are  in  their  due  succession,  are 
found  to  occur  in  reverse  order,  so  that  a  peak  may 
be  carved  out  of  strata  older  than  those  which  form 
its  base.  This  reversal  was  noticed  many  years 
ago  by  the  veteran  Swiss  geologist,  Escher,  who 
explained  it  by  the  formation  of  a  vast  double  and 
flattened  fold,  with  one  cusp  pointing  northward  and 
the  other  in  the  opposite  direction.  His  idea  was 
adopted  and  elaborated  by  Professor  Heim  in  his 
classic  work, I  which  is  illustrated  by  a  number  of 
transverse  sections  indicating  the  thoroughness  of  his 
explorations.  This  "double  fold"  of  Glarus  at  first 
met  with  a  favourable  reception  from  geologists, 
but  a  more  prolonged  study  showed  the  difficulty  of 
understanding  by  what  movements  in  the  crust  of 
the  earth  its  more  superficial  strata  could  be  bent 
from  a  horizontal  position  into  a  curve  like  the 
outside  of  a  door-handle,  and  a  study  of  the  sections 
published  in  the  author's  illustrative  atlas  showed 
that  while  faults  were  but  rarely  indicated,  important 
»  "Mechanismus  der  Gebirgsbildung,"  published  in  1878. 

8q 


How  the  Alps  Grew 

masses  of  rock  often  thinned  out  and  disappeared 
more  rapidly  than  was  Hkely  to  occur  in  a  com- 
paratively limited  district.  Accordingly,  Professor 
Rothpletz  and  other  geologists  maintain  that  these 
strata  have  undergone  not  only  folding,  but  also 
thrust-faulting  on  an  even  greater  scale,  and  that 
the  northern  limb  of  the  supposed  double  fold  is 
formed  by  an  overthrust  mass  comparable  with  that 
to  which  Professor  Lapworth  had  called  attention 
in  the  north-west  Highlands  of  Scotland. 

We  must  be  content  with  stating  the  two  Interpre- 
tations, and  presenting  the  latter  one  as  a  diagram, 
for   a   discussion    of  them    would    involve   long   and 


N.  S. 

Fig.  4.— Thrust  Plane  in  Mountains  South  of  Lake  of 
Wallenstadt  (Rothpletz). 

I  =  Trias.  2  =  Lias.  3  =  Cretaceous. 

4  =  Tertiary.         T  T  =  Great  thrust  plane.  6  =  Normal  fault. 

intricate  technicalities ;  but  we  may  add  that,  so  far  as 
we  can  form  an  opinion,  the  view  of  Rothpletz  seems 
to  Involve  fewer  mechanical  difficulties  and  better 
to  suit  the  facts  than  the  "double  fold,"  as  originally 
pictured  by  Helm. 

Still  farther  west  the  flexures  are  more  abrupt  and 
concentrated  into  a  narrower  zone.  This  Is  most 
conspicuous  on  the  northern  face  of  the  central  massif 
In  the  Bernese  Oberland,  west  of  the  valley  of  the 
Aar,  where  a  mighty  wall  of  limestone  rises  for 
something  like  a  mile  in  vertical  height  above  the 
upper  pastures  on  either  side  of  Grindelwald. 

The    Elger    (13,040   feet)   and   the   northernmost 

81  F 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

summit  of  the  Wetterhorn  (12,150  feet)  consist  of 
that  rock,  which  extends  westward  to  form  the 
buttresses  of  the  Monch  and  the  great  precipices  of 
the  Jungfrau.  But  the  upper  part  of  both  these 
mountains,  with  the  second  and  sHghtly  the  highest 
peak  of  the  Wetterhorn,  like  all  the  Alpine  giants 
which  rise  in  their  rear,  consists  of  crystalline  rock. 
Thus  the  solid  floor  of  this  rock  has  been  bent  so 
as  to  overtop  and  even  overarch  the  sedimentaries 
which  once  lay  level  upon  it.  Nor  is  this  all :  in 
the  northern  cliffs  of  the  Jungfrau  the  gneiss  appears 
to  be  interbedded  with  the  Jurassic  limestones,  an 
association  which,  as  stated  in  a  former  chapter,  for 
long  served  as  a  basis  of  far-reaching  theories  of 
selective  metamorphism,  but  is  now  recognised  as 
only  a  case  of  intensified  folding,  with  a  certain 
amount  of  thrust-faulting.  This  district  is  not  the 
only  one  in  the  Alps  where  a  crystalline  and  a  slaty 
rock  occur  in  juxtaposition.  There  is  one  on  the 
northern  face  of  the  Meije,  above  La  Grave  in 
Dauphine,  which  has  long  been  known  to  geologists 
for  the  sharpness  of  the  contrast  (Fig.  5). 

This  folding  of  the  sedimentary  zone  continues 
in  the  Western  Oberland  and  across  the  valley  of  the 
Rhone  into  the  Savoy  Alps,  and  produces,  according 
to  Professor  Lugeon  and  other  Continental  geologists, 
a  structure  in  some  ways  more  extraordinary.  The 
Mesozoic  rocks  in  the  outer  part  of  this  zone  (the 
Prdalpes  extdrieures  of  those  authors)  often  actually 
"  overlie  the  Miocene  conglomerate  and  sandstone, 
and  frequently  exhibit  peculiar  flat  folds  i^plis  couchds), 
which  may  be  compared  to  a  doubled-up  duvet^ 
together,  perhaps,  with  the  counterpane.     The  strata 

82 


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6.      THE   WETTERHORN,    FROM    NEAR   GRINDELWALD. 


How  the   Alps  Grew 

forming  these  recumbent  folds  apparently  have  no 
underground  continuations,  and  the  higher  loops 
commonly  extend  farther  north  than  the  lower.  .  .  . 
This  unusual  folding — these  extensive,  almost  flat 
layers  {nappes)  simulating  horizontal  stratification — 
Professor  Lugeon  explains  by  supposing  that  the  strata 


Fig.  5. — Section  near  La  Grave. 
A.  Gneissic  granite.  B.  Dark  slate  ( Jurassic). 

thus  affected  were  deposited  far  away  to  the  south-east ; 
for  instance,  in  the  case  of  the  Chablais  district,  to 
the  south  of  the  present  Pennines,  perhaps  not  far 
from  the  region  now  indicated  by  a  broad  belt  of 
greenstone  extending  from  Locarno  to  Ivrea.''^ 
Flat  folds  undoubtedly  exist  to  some  extent  in 
'  Quart.  Jour,  Geol.  Soc^  vol.  Ixiii.  (1907),  p.  295. 

83 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

that  district,  but  this  admission  does  not  prove  that 
such  extraordinary  transgressions  have  ever  occurred. 
With  this  matter,  which  involves  many  technicalities, 
I  have  dealt  in  a  paper  from  which  the  above 
quotation  is  taken,  and  endeavoured  to  show  that, 
though  its  main  idea  appears  at  first  sight  to  be 
confirmed  by  Professor  Sollas'  most  interesting 
experiments  with  cobbler's  wax,^  these,  while 
illustrating  the  formation  of  fiat  folds,  give  no  real 
support  to  Professor  Lugeon's  principal  contention. 
I  have  also  maintained  that  some  of  the  sections, 
which  the  latter  cites  as  favourable  to  his  hypothesis, 
are  either  improbable  in  themselves,  or  involve 
mistakes  in  the  identification  of  rocks,  and  that  such 
transferences  across  the  axis  of  the  Alps  would  be, 
under  the  conditions  then  existing,  mechanical 
impossibilities — impossibilities  which  do  not  even 
require  discussion,  if  I  am  correct  in  believing  that, 
with  the  exception  of  a  slight  deviation  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Mont  Blanc,  the  watershed  of  the 
Miocene  Alps  was  substantially  identical  with  that 
which  is  still  in  existence. 

We  may  mention  here  some  rather  isolated  masses 
of  rock  which  certainly  indicate  thrust-faulting, 
though  not  movements  on  such  a  gigantic  scale  as 
those  which  we  have  been  discussing.  These  are 
the  Klippen,  of  which  the  Mythen,  the  Buochserhorn, 
the  Stanzerhorn,  and  other  similar  advance-guards 
of  the  Bernese  Oberland  are  examples:  "They  rise 
in  abrupt  pyramids,  with  steep,  sharp  points,  in 
striking  contrast  with  the  rounded  grassy  slopes  of 
the    Eocene   and    Cretaceous   layers,  by  which  they 

*   Ut  supra,  vol.  li.  (1895),  P-  3^i»  ^"^  ^^1.  Ixii.  (1906),  p.  716. 

84 


How  the  Alps  Grew 

are  surrounded  and  on  which  they  rest."  ^  The 
most  probable  explanation  of  these  picturesquely 
anomalous  masses  is  that  they  are  the  monumental 
records  of  a  process  of  overthrusting,  **the  last 
remnants  of  a  range,  the  intervening  parts  of  which 
have  been  removed  by  denudation."  But  here  also 
it  appears  quite  unnecessary  to  assume  anything  on 
a  scale  so  gigantic  as  is  demanded  by  certain 
enthusiastic  advocates  of  the  overthrusting  process. 
We  pass  on,  then,  to  the  region  extending  from 
the  left  bank  of  the  Rhone,  between  Martigny  and 
the  Lake  of  Geneva,  to  the  south-west  as  far  as 
the  mountains  of  Dauphine,  beyond  which,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  the  chain  becomes  more  simple. 
The  whole  of  this  region  exhibits  a  remarkable 
uniformity  of  structure,^  which  may  be  more  easily 
understood  by  following  it  up  from  the  southern 
end.  "  Here  we  find  the  great  crystalline  ridges  of 
the  Belledonne  and  the  Grandes  Rousses,  with  their 
infolds  of  Secondary  rock ;  we  find  the  huge  massif 
culminating  in  the  Meije,  Ecrins,  and  Pelvoux,  which 
seems  to  have  been  forced  like  a  gigantic  plug 
through  the  sedimentaries  (Fig.  5) ;  bending  back  their 
edges  and  in  some  cases  elevating  them  in  huge 
arches  a  mile  vertical  in  height.  East  of  these  comes 
a  trough  of  Carboniferous  rocks,  which  practically  can 
be  traced  to  the  valley  of  the  Rhone ;  and  yet  farther 

^  See  "The  Scenery  of  Switzerland,"  by  Sir  J.  Lubbock  (Lord 
Avebury),  p.  294,  for  a  clear  statement  of  the  explanations  which 
have  been  offered  of  their  structure. 

"^  The  following  paragraphs  are  extracted  from  a  lecture  given 
at  the  Royal  Institution  and  printed  in  the  Alpine  J^ournal,  vol.  xiv. 
p.  116.  Though  this  was  written  in  1888,  my  later  studies  have 
not  led  me  to  change  the  opinions  expressed  in  the  quotations, 

85 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

east  comes  the  great  series  of  crystalline  schists, 
which  can  be  followed  without  interruption  from  the 
Pennine  to  the  Maritime  Alps. 

'*  This  last,  as  a  rule,  forms  the  present  water- 
shed, and  it  also  indicates,  as  I  believe,  that  of  the 
Miocene  Alps.  Low  as  are  the  passes  of  the  Gen^vre 
(6,102  feet)  and  the  Echelles  de  Planpinet  (5,783 
feet)  at  the  head  of  the  Durance,  that  river  finds 
its  way  to  the  Gulf  of  Lyons.  Hence  I  consider 
that  the  Dauphin^  ranges,  with  their  prolonga- 
tion to  the  north,  owe  their  present  elevations,  like 
the  Oberland,  to  post-Miocene  disturbances.  This 
at  any  rate  is  certain,  that  the  Romanche,  which 
rises  high  up  in  the  north  part  of  the  main  crystalline 
massif  of  Dauphine,  must  from  the  first  have  been 
able  to  traverse  the  ridges  which  prolong  the  line 
of  the  Grandes  Rousses  and  the  Belledonne,  and 
which  it  has  now  gashed  so  deeply  in  the  Combes  de 
Malaval  and  de  Gavet.  The  Dauphine  massif  also 
has  probably  forced  the  Durance  to  take  at  first  a 
southern  course.  The  molasse  of  the  Department  of 
the  Is^re  indicates  that  there  have  been  great  dis- 
turbances since  it  was  deposited. 

**  In  the  Mont  Blanc  range  we  recognise  the  pro- 
longation of  the  Pelvoux  axis.  In  that  of  the 
Br^vent,  the  double  fold  of  the  Belledonne  and 
Grandes  Rousses  may  still  be  traced.  But  here  an 
anomaly  presents  itself.  The  watershed  at  the  head 
of  the  Val  d'Aoste  deserts  the  line  of  the  crystalline 
schists,  and,  twisting  westward  around  the  affluents 
of  the  Dora  Baltea,  passes  along  the  crest  of  Mont 
Blanc  and  its  Aiguilles. 

"  The  structure  of  the  region  indicated  by  a  geolo- 

86 


How  the  Alps  Grew 

glcal  map  would  lead  us  to  look  for  it  not  far  from 
a  line  joining  the  Velan  with  Mont  Pourri  or  the 
Tsanteleina.i  ...  If  we  believe  .  .  .  that  the  Mont 
Blanc  massif  owes  it  present  supreme  eminence  to  a 
post- Miocene  upthrust,  i,e.y  is  contemporaneous  with 
the  Oberland  massif- — we  are  tempted  to  speculate 
whether,  in  this  one  case,  the  exceptional  elevation 
attained  by  that  upstart  mass  may  not  have  interfered 
with  the  old  watershed  and  have  added  to  the  basin 
of  the  Dora  Baltea  the  drainacre  of  the  southern  flank 
of  the  Mont  Blanc  range  and  of  the  trough  of  Jurassic 
rock  between  it  and  Morgex." 

South  of  the  marked  gap  of  the  Mont  Genevre, 
the  main  chain  of  the  Alps  rises  again  to  an  ele- 
vation, generally  exceeding  8,000  feet,  occasionally 
9,000  feet,  and  attaining  in  the  grand  pyramid  of 
Monte  Viso  12,609  ^^^t.  **  From  a  point  about  fifteen 
miles  south  of  this  mountain  a  number  of  valleys 
diverge  in  many  directions,  like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel. 
These  correspond  to  as  many  mountain  ridges,  which 
all  radiate  from  the  Rocher  des  Trois  Eveques  (9,390 
feet);  2  those  to  the  S.E.  and  S.W.,  which  extend 
towards  the  Mediterranean,  being  the  more  con- 
siderable. This  peak  rises  near  the  north-western 
end  of  a  mass  of  crystalline  rock,  which  is  cut 
off  from  the  main  one  of  the  Cottian  Alps  by  a 
rather  narrow  trough  of  sedimentary  strata.  To  the 
south  of  it,  the  crystallines  are  no  longer  visible,  and 
the  sedimentaries  form  the  rest  of  the  Alpine  region  till 
it  reaches  the  sea.  Thus  the  structures  of  the  two  ex- 
tremes of  the  chain  correspond  in  more  than  one  respect. 

'  In  1888  these  mountains  bore  another  name. 

""  J.  Ball,  "Alpine  Guide:  the  Western  Alps,"  p.  i.  (ed.  1898). 

87 


CHAPTER    IV 

MOUNTAIN   FORMS 

More  than  half  a  century  has  passed  since  Ruskin 
published  the  fourth  volume  of  *'  Modern  Painters," 
which  is  devoted  to  Mountain  Beauty  and  contains 
some  of  the  keenest  observations  and  most  eloquent 
passages  in  that  classic  work.  In  this  interval 
geology  has  made  great  advances,  especially  In  the 
knowledge  of  rocks,  but  the  sections  dealing  with 
the  Materials  of  Mountains,  though  here  and  there 
containing  hypotheses  which  have  had  to  be  discarded, 
are  so  full  of  suggestive  remarks  that  no  student  of 
mountain  scenery  can  afford  to  neglect  them.  Ruskin 
groups  these  materials  under  four  heads,  which  for 
all  practical  purposes  are  substantially  accurate, 
the  classification  depending  on  their  condition  and 
structure.  First  come  the  Compact  Crystallines — rocks 
which,  once  in  a  molten  state,  have  slowly  solidified 
at  considerable  depths  from  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
and  thus  consist  of  closely  interlocked  crystalline 
constituents.  These,  as  a  rule,  do  not  exhibit  any 
definite  structural  arrangement,  and  the  group 
contains  the  granites,  syenites,  diorltes,  and  other 
fairly  coarse-grained  igneous  rocks.  Strictly  speaking, 
it  also  Includes  finer-grained  rocks  of  similar  origin 
such   as   the    felstones    and    greenstones   (both   not 

88 


Mountain  Forms 

seldom  old  lava-flows) ;  but  as  these  rarely  occupy 
large  areas,  we  may  pass  them  by  as  unimportant. 
The  cooling  and  crystallization  of  a  mass  of  molten 
rock  makes  it  shrink,  and  thus  exposes  it  to  strains 
which  produce  divisional  surfaces,  sometimes  very 
uniform  in  their  directions.  These  are  called  joints  ; 
and  any  inequality  in  the  rupturing  forces  may  cause 
one  or  more  sets  of  them  to  dominate,  but  otherwise 
the  mass  is  broken  into  large  cubical  blocks.  Their 
corners,  after  long  exposure  to  the  action  of  the 
weather,  crumble  away,  thus  giving  rise  to  those 
hassock- like  forms,  which  may  often  be  seen  on  the 
granite  tors  of  Dartmoor. 

Next  come  the  Slaty  Crystallines.  This  group 
contains  rocks  which,  though  consisting,  like  the 
last,  of  interlocked  mineral  constituents  that  have 
crystallised  in  situ,  exhibit  a  certain  order  in  their 
arrangement,  and  are  in  consequence  more  fissile, 
or  in  other  words  ''slaty."  As  already  indicated, 
this  structure  may  be  due  either  to  a  movement 
of  the  mass  during  the  last  stage  of  consolidation,  or 
to  the  original  bedding  of  materials,  which  were  once 
fragmental,  but  have  since  entered  (by  the  action 
of  heat,  water,  and  pressure)  into  new  chemical  com- 
binations, or  may  be,  as  is  perhaps  the  most  common 
case  in  mountain  regions,  the  result  of  a  partial 
crushing  under  pressure  with  some  subsequent  re- 
constitution  among  the  smaller  fragments.  By  this 
process  (which  in  Ruskin's  day  was  very  imperfectly 
understood,  though  he  seems  to  have  had  some 
inkling  of  it)  much  of  the  gneiss  in  the  Alps  has 
been  produced  and  many  of  their  schists  have  been 
modified. 

89 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

The  Coherents  follow,  divided,  like  the  crystallines, 
into  the  compact  and  the  slaty  ;  the  one  including 
the  sandstones,  limestones,  dolomites  and  marbles 
(though  the  last,  as  Ruskin  points  out,  are  strictly 
speaking  crystalline  rocks),  and  the  other  the  slates 
and  harder  shales  ;  for  the  softer  fragmental  rocks 
are  obviously  not  likely  to  have  been  employed  in 
mountain-building.  In  the  compact  rocks  a  jointed 
structure  is  often  more  conspicuous  than  the  bed- 
ding ;  in  the  slaty,  fissility  often  dominates  over  both. 
Thus,  whether  crystallines  or  coherents,  the  outlines 
of  the  compact  rocks  often  afford  a  certain  similarity, 
but  this,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  is  less  true  of  the 
slaty,  because  of  the  superior  hardness  and  durability 
of  the  crystallines.  The  slaty  coherents  but  seldom 
afford  a  bold  and  impressive  skyline  ;  while,  as  Ruskin 
points  out,  they  produce  at  elevations  unfavourable 
to  plant-life  anything  but  attractive  scenery.  ''  There 
are  many  spots  among  the  inferior  ridges  of  the  Alps, 
such  as  the  Col  de  Ferret,  the  Col  d'Anterne,  and 
the  associated  ranges  of  the  Buet,  which,  though 
commanding  prospects  of  great  nobleness,  are  them- 
selves very  nearly  types  of  all  that  is  most  painful 
to  the  human  mind.  Vast  wastes  of  mountain  ground, 
covered  here  and  there  with  dull  grey  grass  or 
moss,  but  breaking  continually  into  black  banks  of 
shattered  slate,  all  glistening  and  sodden  with  slow 
tricklings  of  clogged,  incapable  streams  ;  the  snow- 
water oozing  through  them  in  a  cold  sweat,  and 
spreading  itself  in  creeping  stains  among  their  dust. 
.  .  .  I  know  no  other  scenes  so  appalling  as  these 
in  storm,  or  so  woeful  in  sunshine."' 

*  "Modern  Painters,"  vol.  iv.  p.  126  (ed.  1856). 

90 


7-      THE   CINQUE  TORRE. 


To  face  p.  90. 


Mountain  Forms 

But,  as  he  goes  on  to  remark  :  *'  Where  these  same 
rocks  exist  in  more  favourable  positions,  that  is  to 
say,  on  gentler  banks  and  at  lower  elevations,  they 
form  a  ground  for  the  most  luxuriant  .vegetation, 
and  the  valleys  of  Savoy  owe  to  them  some  of 
their  loveliest  solitudes — exquisitely  rich  pastures 
interspersed  with  arable  and  orchard  land  and  shaded 
by  groves  of  walnut  and  cherry."  Not  only  so, 
but  it  is  to  the  presence  of  thick  beds  of  shaly  or 
slaty  rock  among  corresponding  masses  of  strong 
limestone  that  the  northern  zone  of  the  Alps  from 
the  eastern  Tyrol  to  western  Dauphin^  owes  its 
exceptional  charm. 

Of  the  other  three  groups,  certain  districts 
afford  more  striking  examples  than  can  be  found 
elsewhere  in  the  chain.  The  compact  crystallines, 
if  we  use  the  term  in  a  strict  sense,  do  not 
generally  occur  on  a  large  scale  in  the  higher 
Alps,  though  Ruskin  speaks  of  the  granite  of  Mont 
Blanc.  In  a  sense  he  is  quite  right,  for  the  *'proto- 
gine "  both  of  that  mountain  as  well  as  of  its 
Aiguilles,  was  originally  a  granite,  but  the  so-called 
"  gneiss  "  of  the  latter  is  only  the  *'  granite  "  of  the 
former  rather  more  modified  by  subsequent  pressure. 
Indeed,  as  we  have  already  stated,  it  is  probable 
that  most  of  the  Alpine  gneisses,  instead  of  being 
metamorphosed  sediments,  have  had  a  similar  origin. 
Perhaps  also,  Ruskin,  as  more  familiar  with  the 
aspect  of  Mont  Blanc  from  the  neighbourhood  of 
Chamonix,  where  its  upper  part  presents  a  compara- 
tively rounded  outline,  has  forgotten  that  even  on  this 
side  the  Aiguille  du  Midi  is  a  grand  group  of  splintered 
crags,  while  the  **  calotte  "  on  the  west  and  the  south 

91 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

is  closely  guarded  by  shattered  ridges  and  attendant 
aiguilles.  Granite  bosses,  it  is  true,  are  not  rare  on 
the  southern  margin  of  the  Alps,  but  they  are 
small  in  area  and  insignificant  in  elevation  ;  one  or 
two  of  larger  size,  such  as  the  Cima  d'Asti,  occur 
nearer  the  heart  of  the  chain,  but  the  most  important 
masses  of  truly  compact  crystallines,  at  any  rate 
which  I  have  seen,  are  the  Mont  Collon  in  the 
Eringerthal  and  the  Adamello  massif.  Every  visitor 
to  Arolla  remembers  the  former,  a  huge  block  of  a 
coarsely  crystalline  rock,  called  gabbro,  in  form  some- 
thing like  a  sponge-cake,  its  snowy  cap  of  snow  or  ice 
rising  to  a  summit,  which,  though  nearly  12,000 
feet  ^  above  sea-level,  is  far  from  conspicuous,  but  is 
guarded  by  magnificent  crags,  which  on  the  more 
northern  face  descend  almost  vertically  to  the 
encircling  glaciers  for  some  5,000  feet,  with  an 
aspect  of  strength  and  grandeur  which  is  not  often 
rivalled.  The  Adamello,  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  western  Tyrol,  is  a  little  lower — its  highest  point 
attaining  nearly  11,700  feet — but  it  occupies  a  much 
larger  area,  namely,  one  about  3 1  miles  in  length  and 
not  quite  half  that  amount  in  maximum  breadth.  It 
consists  of  a  kind  of  diorite,^  called  tonalite  from  the 
Tonale  Pass,  which  crosses  its  northern  extremity,  and 
is  a  great  tabular  mass  of  rock,  draped  in  the  upper 
part  with  snow  and  ice  and  crowned  with  two  or  three 
rather  inconspicuous  peaks,  but  its  craggy  flanks 
descend  grandly  to  the  deep-cut  and  rather  narrow 
valleys  which  run  southward  from  its  flanks  towards 
the  Lago  d'Idro. 

*  The  exact  height  is  given  as  11,956  feet. 

'  It  consists  of  quartz,  plagioclase  felspar,  hornblende,  and  biotite. 

92 


Mountain  Forms 

No  better  example  can  be  found  of  the  slaty 
crystallines  than  the  *'  Aiguilles  of  Chamonix  "  and  the 
great  horseshoe  of  ruined  fastnesses  which  form  the 
High  Alps  of  Dauphine.  Among  the  former,  owing 
to  the  combined  effects  of  cleavage  and  jointing,  the 
**  pinnacle  "  shape  is  dominant  throughout  the  range. 
It  asserts  itself  in  the  huge  pyramid  of  the  Aiguille 
Verte  and  the  wedge  of  the  Jorasses  ;  it  produces 
the  serrate  crests  of  the  Charmoz  and  Grepon,  the 
Blaitiere  and  Les  Plans ;  it  culminates  in  the  immense 
obelisk  of  the  Dru  and  the  tooth  of  the  Geant,  one  of 
the  most  wonderful  among  rock  forms.  We  could 
hardly  find,  at  any  rate  from  a  point  easily  accessible, 
a  more  impressive  mountain  prospect  than  that  of  the 
range  of  Mont  Blanc  from  the  summit  of  the  Brevent 
(8,285  feet).  Across  the  deep  trough  of  the  Chamonix 
valley,  it  towers  before  us  from  the  Aiguille  du  Tour 
to  the  Aiguille  du  Go{iter.  Now  the  grandeur  of  the 
Monarch  can  be  fully  appreciated.  Though  it  rises 
above  the  Arve  valley  for  at  least  12,000  feet,  the 
mountain,  when  looked  at  from  anywhere  near,  is  too 
much  foreshortened,  and  its  upper,  the  more  beautiful 
part,  does  not  appear  in  its  due  proportions.  Indeed, 
we  may  say  with  truth  of  Mont  Blanc,  that  distance 
lends  dignity,  if  not  also  enchantment,  to  the  view. 
Not  till  we  have  seen  it  unclouded  from  some  high 
peak  or  pass  among  the  mountains  of  Switzerland  or 
France  can  we  really  appreciate  how  the  Monarch 
dominates  the  members  of  his  immediate  bodyguard 
and  of  their  outposts.  Never,  perhaps,  was  I  so  much 
impressed  with  its  vast  bulk  as  when  I  saw  it  one 
clear,  sunny  day,  more  than  eighty  miles  away  to  the 
north,  from  the  Col  de  Cristillian  in  the  Cottian  Alps. 

93 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

It  towered  into  the  sky  above  the  rest  of  the  chain  in 
one  vast  wave  of  snow  and  ice,  as  a  solitary  breaker 
will  sometimes  rise  above  the  ordinary  swell  of  a  sea. 
Hardly  less  impressive  also  was  the  effect,  when,  late 
in  a  summer  afternoon,  as  I  was  travelling  by  railway 
from  Dijon  to  Macon,  my  eye  was  caught  by  a 
mysterious  cumulus  cloud  low  down  on  the  horizon. 
Gradually  some  darker  spots  resolved  themselves  into 
far-off  ridges  of  rock,  seaming  the  primrose-tinted 
snows,  and  I  became  aware  that  I  was  gazing  at 
Mont  Blanc  from  a  distance  of  hardly  less  than  120 
miles.  I  watched  it  from  time  to  time  as  I  passed  on 
southwards,  till  its  snows  first  glowed  with  the  flush 
of  sunset,  then  turned  to  a  deathlike  pallor,  and  at 
last  the  Alpine  giant  faded  like  a  ghost  into  the 
darkening  summer  night. 

Rock-scenery  even  wilder,  though  its  summits  are 
not  quite  so  conspicuously  crowned  with  pinnacles, 
characterises  the  High  Alps  of  Dauphine  which 
enclose,  like  a  great  horseshoe,  the  head-waters  of 
the  Veneon.  This  massif,  though  a  prolongation, 
as  we  have  already  said,  of  the  Mont  Blanc  axis, 
seems  at  first  sight  to  be  almost  isolated  from  the 
main  chain  of  the  Alps,  with  which  it  is  linked  only 
by  the  Col  du  Lautaret  (6,808  feet).  From  the  eastern 
side  of  this  pass  the  valley  of  the  Guisane  descends 
rather  rapidly  to  Brian^on,  where  it  joins  the 
Durance,  which,  running  southward,  severs  the 
Dauphine  massif  from  the  Cottian  Alps.  On  its 
western  side  the  Romanche  begins  its  course,  passing 
through  the  gorges  of  the  Combe  de  Malaval  and 
Combe  de  Gavet  till  it  joins  the  Isere  near  Grenoble. 
The   great   cliffs   of  the    Pelvoux,    overhanging    the 

94 


Mountain  Forms 

hamlet  of  Les  Claux,  are  hardly  less  imposing  than 
those  of  the  Grandes  Jorasses :  the  western  and 
southern  precipices  of  the  Ecrins,  the  monarch  of 
that  range,  are  among  the  grandest  in  the  Alps,  while 
the  steep,  broken  snowfields,  and  rugged  triangular 
summit  of  its  northern  face  are  hardly  less  impressive. 
The  view  of  its  western  face  from  the  hamlet  of 
Les  Etages  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Veneon  valley 
was  depicted  by  the  late  Professor  J.  D.  Forbes 
nearly  sixty  years  ago.^  It  would  be  difficult  to 
surpass  the  serrate  ridges  of  the  Meije  and  the 
Ailefroide  or  the  strangely  formed  peaks  between 
the  latter  and  the  Pelvoux.  Boldness,  severity,  even 
grimness,  are  the  dominant  characteristics  of  the 
High  Alps  of  Dauphin6.  Their  glaciers,  however, 
are  generally  inferior  in  size  to  those  of  the  Chamonix 
district ;  while  the  absence  of  pine  woods  and  other 
trees,  and  the  long  slopes  of  broken  rock,  which  are 
thus  exposed  in  unveiled  desolation,  give  a  certain 
dreariness  to  the  scenery. 

The  crests  of  the  slaty  crystallines  are  always  bold 
in  form  and  rugged  in  outline,  except  where  buried 
deep  in  snow  and  ice.  To  them  the  phrase  '*a  sea 
of  mountains  "  is  often  peculiarly  applicable,  in  which, 
now  and  then,  a  breaker,  instantaneously  petrified, 
towers  up  above  the  minor  waves  in  solitary  grandeur. 
But  even  in  these  cases,  as  in  other  matters,  much 
depends  on  the  point  of  view.  Pyramidal  forms  and 
sharp  summits  are  often  thought  to  be  common,  and 
these  characterise  such  giants  as  the  Weisshorn, 
the  Dent  Blanche,    and   some   other  mountains   less 

^  "Norway  and  its  Glaciers,"  with  appended  article  on  some 
Alpine  Excursions,  1853. 

95 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

generally  known,  but  the  peak  is  often  neither  so 
pointed  in  its  outline  nor  so  complete  in  its  isolation 
as  we  might  readily  imagine.  The  Viso,  when  seen 
from  the  streets  of  Turin  (by  far  its  best-known 
aspect)  assumes  the  shape  of  a  pyramid  no  less 
graceful  than  grand.  But  its  true  form,  as  may  be 
seen  when  it  is  approached  from  the  west  by  the  valley 
of  the  Guil,  is  a  great  wedge-like  block,  crowned  by 
two  ruined  battlements,  of  which  the  one  is  distinctly 
higher  than  the  other.  The  Matterhorn,  when  re- 
garded from  Zermatt,  and  still  more  from  any 
of  the  well-known  resorts  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  Riffelhorn,  seems  almost  comparable  in  outline  to 
a  flaming  torch.  Yet  its  summit  is  an  almost  level 
ridge,  nearly  1 20  yards  in  length  ;  and  that  spire- 
like mass  which  seems  to  tower  fully  4,000  feet 
above  its  supporting  ridges  is  really  united  to  the 
Dent  d'Herens  by  a  curtain  wall,  which  in  only 
one  place  falls  below  11,500  feet. 

The  forms  of  the  compact  coherents  are  often  not 
less  impressive  than,  though  very  distinct  from,  those 
of  the  slaty  crystallines.  In  the  Alps  their  materials 
are  calcareous — limestones  or  dolomites  ;  sandstones 
occurring  only  in  the  outer  zones,  where  they  give 
rise  to  little  more  than  hilly  though  remarkably  attrac- 
tive scenery.  Occasionally,  however,  the  coarse 
conglomerates  called  nagelfluhe,  often  closely  asso- 
ciated with  these  sandstones,  form  real  mountains, 
such  as  the  Speer  and  the  Rigi,  the  former  of 
which  more  than  attains  6,000  feet  above  sea-level. 
Their  outlines  recall  those  of  the  compact  crystallines, 
though  always  suggesting  the  existence  of  a  strati- 
fication in  their   materials.     Most  people    who  have 

96 


Mountain   Forms 

visited  Switzerland  are  familiar  with  the  aspect  of 
the  second  of  these  mountains  from  the  lower  part 
of  the  Lake  of  Lucerne — a  massive  block,  guarded 
on  three  sides  by  great  precipices,  but  culminating 
in  an  undulose  area  of  mountain  pastures. 

Yet  even  here  the  resistance  to  atmospheric 
agencies,  which  makes  this  striking  outline  a  possi- 
bility, is  due  not  so  much  to  the  materials,  which 
readily  catch  the  eye,  as  to  the  calcareous  cement 
which  binds  them  together.  Without  that  the  nagel- 
fluhe  would  be  no  more  coherent  than  the  pebble 
beds  of  the  English  Bunter.  Throughout  the  Alps 
the  mountains  of  ordinary  limestone  take  the  form 
of  blocks  rather  than  of  pyramids,  though  the  Eiger, 
which  towers  up  so  grandly  above  the  valley  of 
Grindelwald,  is  a  striking  exception  to  this  rule  ;  and 
wherever  this  limestone  is  interrupted  by  beds  of 
shale,  both  being  of  considerable  thickness,  the  moun- 
tains present  that  terraced  outline,  that  alternation  of 
bare  precipice  and  verdant  slope,  which  is  the  most 
marked  characteristic  and  the  greatest  charm  of  the 
limestone  regions  from  one  end  of  the  Alps  to  the 
other.  In  those  districts  where  some  form  of 
dolomite  replaces  the  ordinary  limestones,  the  moun- 
tains often  present  an  extraordinary  resemblance  to 
ruined  castles  ;  but  in  many  cases,  especially  where 
the  strata,  composing  them  are  a  little  tilted,  they 
assume,  as  Sir  Leslie  Stephen  once  remarked,  the 
form  of  a  writing-desk,  which  is  a  common  feature 
in  the  Western  Oberland.  Others,  however,  in  the 
words  of  the  late  W.  Mathew^s,  my  companion  in 
many  an  Alpine  ramble,  may  be  compared,  as  was 
the   Dent  du  Midi,  to  a   gigantic   molar   tooth  ;  but 

97  <> 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

in  all  cases  precipices  are  the  most  distinctive 
feature  of  the  compact  coherents.  To  these  we  owe 
that  line  of  giant  bastions,  parted  by  glaciers,  which 
extends  along  the  northern  face  of  the  Bernese 
Oberland  from  the  valley  of  the  White  Llitschine 
to  that  of  the  Aar — the  great  buttresses  of  the 
Jungfrau,  the  towering  peak  of  the  Eiger,  the  less 
aspiring  Mettenberg,  and  the  Wetterhorn,  with 
its  humbler  neighbour,  the  precipitous  Wellborn. 
Without  forgetting  the  well-known  remark  about 
comparisons,  I  doubt  whether  mountain  grandeur 
and  mountain  beauty  are  ever  more  harmoniously 
combined,  at  any  rate  in  Switzerland,  than  when 
we  see,  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Grindelwald,  the 
vast  precipices  of  the  Wetterhorn  made  ethereal  by 
the  shimmering  light  of  a  summer  morning.  Yet 
one  may  well  hesitate  in  awarding  the  prize  of 
beauty,  for  other  districts  in  the  Alps  must  not  be 
forgotten,  such  as  the  limestone  Alps  of  Savoy  and 
those  of  the  Northern  Tyrol.  In  the  one  the  dome- 
like mass  of  the  Pointe  de  Tanneverge,  though 
not  attaining  10,000  feet,  is  a  most  striking  object 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  Sixt ;  in  the  other,  the 
scenery  of  the  northern  district  from  the  Zugspitz 
eastward,  is  remarkably  attractive  ;  while  the  Bavarian 
Konigsee  and  the  Austrian  lake-land  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Ischl,  have  a  charm  which  is  all  their  own. 
But  the  possibilities  of  the  compact  coherents  are 
best  demonstrated  in  the  Dolomites  of  the  Italian 
Tyrol,  which  was  almost  an  unknown  land  to  English 
travellers  till  Messrs.  Gilbert  and  Churchill  told  them 
of  its  attractions  in  their  classic  volume.^  The 
'  "The  Dolomite  Mountains,"  1864. 

98 


Mountain    Forms 


mineral  to  which  they  owe  their  name  is  a  definite 
combination  of  carbonates  of  lime  and  of  magnesia, 
but  the  rock  to  which  it  has  been  extended  contains 
a  larger,  though  variable,  proportion  of  the  former. 
This  rock,  as  dolomite  is  a  little  harder  and  more 
durable  than  calcite,  generally  assumes  a  rather 
bolder  form  than  the  ordinary  limestones.  Like 
them,  it  is  associated  with  other  sediments  and 
even  with  igneous  materials,  but  in  this  region  it 
chiefly  consists  of  two  great  masses  ;  the  one,  which 
thins  rather  rapidly  eastwards, 
being  called  the  Schlern  Dolo- 
mite, and  the  other,  out  of 
which  the  great  crags  around  the 
sources  of  the  Piave  are  carved, 
the  Dachstein  Dolomite.^  This 
is  rather  the  more  distinctly 
bedded,  and  thus  assumes  a 
yet     more     definite     aspect     of 

/T7'       zr\        T^u       Fig.     6.  —  Bedding     and 

rumous  masonry  (Fig.  6).  The  joints  in  dachstein 
vast  precipices  of  the  Schlern  ziNNE^Nr''''  ^^^^' 
and  the  Langkofl,  the  cliffs 
of  the  Rosengarten  and  the  Marmolata — the  chief 
summit  of  the  range — consist  of  the  former  rock ; 
the  Primiero  and  the  Ampezzo  Dolomites  of  the 
latter.  These  sometimes  form  a  huge  pyramid, 
like  the  Antelao,  or  almost  rival  an  obelisk,  like 
the  Cimon  della  Pala ;  the  Croda  Rossa,  with  its 
red-stained    sides,   has   been   appropriately  compared 

^  The  Schlern  Dolomite  is  about  the  age  of  the  Red  (Keuper) 
Marls  of  England;  the  Dachstein  belongs  to  a  group  poorly 
represented  in  our  own  country,  which  intervenes  between  the 
Keuper  and  the  Lias. 

99 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

to  a  great  altar  of  sacrifice  ;  ^  the  Pelmo  and  the 
Tofana  rise  in  mighty  crags,  crowned  with  com- 
paratively inconspicuous  summits.  But  the  ordinary 
type  of  a  dolomitic  mass  in  the  Italian  Tyrol  is 
a  huge  curtain  wall  with  broken  battlements  and 
ruined  towers.  Such  is  the  wonderful  range  of 
the  Rosengarten,  which  we  can  watch  from  the 
streets  of  Botzen  as  it  kindles  into  a  strange 
glory  of  sunset  colours.  Such  also  is  the  huge 
fastness  of  the  Langkofl,  near  Campidello.  Per- 
haps from  no  place  in  the  Alps  can  two  more 
striking  views  of  rock  scenery  be  obtained  thaii 
from  Landro  on  the  Ampezzo  road.  Across  the 
little  Diirren  See,  reflected  in  its  placid  waters,  rises 
the  great  rock  wall,  crowned  with  ruined  turrets,  of 
the  Monte  Cristallo  ;  and  we  have  but  to  walk  a 
short  distance  farther  along  the  lake  shore  to  see 
up  a  side  valley  the  yet  stranger  forms  of  the  Drei 
Zinnen — the  Three  Battlements,  as  they  are  so 
appropriately  named.  Two  of  them  rise  sheer  above 
their  rocky  base  for  hardly  less  than  3,000  feet. 
Not  the  least  charm  of  the  Dolomites,  though  the 
remark  applies  more  or  less  to  all  the  limestone 
Alps,  is  the  combination  of  the  grandest  crag 
scenery  with  foregrounds  hardly  less  luxuriant  than 
an  English  park.  Two  of  these  views,  beyond 
others,  have  impressed  themselves  on  my  memory  ; 
one  being  that  from  a  meadow  near  Count  Welsperg  s 
Jagdschloss  in  the  Primiero  Dolomites.''     Passing  the 

»  "The  Dolomite  Mountains,"  p.  158,  where  the  mountain  is 
called  Geiselstein. 

^  Count  Welsperg,  according  to  Gilbert  and  Churchill,  was  a 
retired  cavalry  officer  in  the  Austrian  service,  who  had  built  himself 

100 


Mountain  Forms 

ruined  castle  of  Pletra,  so  strangely  perched  on  a 
crag,  solitary  and  now  inaccessible,  we  enter  a  pine 
wood,  from  which,  in  a  short  time,  we  unexpectedly 
emerge.  The  wild  crags  which  only  a  little  while 
before  we  had  seen  rising  around  the  floor  of  the 
glen,  might  well  have  led  us  to  expect  this  to  be 
nothing  better  than  a  chaos  of  rock  and  debris,  but 
we  find  ourselves  standing  on  the  edge  of  a  meadow, 


Fig.  7.— Dolomite  Mass  in  Ruins  (Cortina  District). 

SO  green  and  level  that  it  might  be  in  Sussex  or 
Dorset,  but  enclosed  by  a  silent  army  of  pines — 
taller,  more  slender,  perhaps  yet  more  graceful,  than 
those  of  the  Central  and  Western  Alps — beyond  and 
above  which  towers  the  rocky  fortress  of  the  Sass 
Maor. 

a  small  house  on  this  secluded  spot,  near  the  home  of  his  ancestors. 
But  as  I  have  not  seen  the  place  since  1880,  it  no  doubt  has 
now  another  owner. 

lOI 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

The  foreground  is  a  gem  of  sylvan  scenery  ;  in  the 
background  "  the  giant  dolomites  stand  round  like 
pillars  of  the  sky,  where  the  jackdaws  chatter,  and 
the  eagle  screams."  ^  Not  less  striking  as  a  contrast, 
and  not  limited  to  so  small  an  area,  is  a  part  of  the 
valley  leading  down  from  the  Tre  Croci  Pass  to 
Auronzo.  The  scene  was  probably  familiar  to  Titian, 
for  he  was  born  at  Pieve  di  Cadore,  some  dozen  miles 
below  that  village,  and  memories  of  the  dolomites,  as 
Ruskin  tells  us,  may  be  recognised  in  his  pictures. 
Here,  as  I  record  in  my  notes,  **the  road  led  us  through 
scenery  which  was  like  a  park,  for  it  was  often  bordered 
by  pines,  so  well  grown  that  they  might  have  had  a 
woodman's  care,  and  these  here  and  there  gave  place 
to  gentler  slopes  of  green  sward.  Behind  these  rose 
on  the  one  side  the  magnificent  cliffs  of  the  Croda 
Malcora  and  the  pinnacles  of  the  Marmarolo  ;  on  the 
other  the  crags  of  the  Cristallo  and  Campoduro." 
These  two  views  are,  in  my  opinion,  the  best  of 
their  kind  among  the  compact  coherents ;  but  we 
obtain  the  contrast  of  great  limestone  cliffs  with 
slopes  of  green  alp  and  purple  pine,  perhaps  of 
walnut  and  other  deciduous  trees  by  the  river  side, 
in  every  part  of  the  Alps  where  rocks  of  this  kind 
are  developed  on  a  grand  scale,  from  the  border  of 
Provence  to  the  heart  of  Carinthia. 

"■  Gilbert  and  Churchill,  "  The  Dolomite  Mountains,"  p.  449. 


102 


CHAPTER   V 

DISTRIBUTION    OF    SNOWFIELDS   AND   GLACIERS   IN 

THE  ALPS 

At  a  certain  elevation  on  a  mountain  range,  provided 
it  be  sufficiently  lofty,  the  snow  which  falls  during  the 
colder  part  of  the  year  is  no  longer  melted  away 
during  the  warmer  one.  This  is  called  the  snow-line, 
and  its  position,  if  we  compare  snow  with  income, 
shows  where  receipts  begin  to  be  greater  than 
expenditure.  Thus  its  height  will  mainly  depend 
on  the  mean  temperature  of  the  region,  and  will 
gradually  rise  above  the  sea-level  as  we  pass  from 
polar  to  tropical  regions.  It  cannot  exist  on  ranges 
where  the  mean  temperature  even  at  the  crest 
exceeds  32°  F.  Its  position,  however,  is  not  wholly 
determined  by  the  average  of  solar  heat ;  it  is  affected 
by  several  minor  causes,  and  in  any  case  the  snow- 
line corresponds  with  a  temperature  slightly  under 
320,  because  a  snowbed  suffers  some  loss  by 
evaporation  even  during  a  long  frost.  Variations 
are  also  due  to  the  aspect  of  the  slope,  the  nature  of 
the  ground  on  which  the  snow  has  fallen,  the  structure 
of  the  mountain  side,  and  other  causes,  which  though 
of  minor  importance  cannot  altogether  be  neglected. 

We  need  only  glance  at  the  north-eastern  face  of 
the  Matterhorn,  every   crag  of  which  is  well   above 

103 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

the  line  for  that  part  of  the  Alps,  to  see  that  it  mainly 
consists  of  bare  rock.  The  reason  is  obvious.  The 
greater  part  of  this  pyramid  is  too  precipitous  to  allow 
the  snow  to  rest.  I  have  seen  it  once  or  twice,  after 
bad  weather,  white  from  head  to  foot,  but  this 
chrism  robe  soon  disappears  under  the  rays  of  the 
sun,  and  before  the  end  of  a  second  day  only  a  few 
steep  patches  are  left  clinging  permanently  to  the 
cliffs.  We  may  take  it  as  a  rule  that  in  the  Alps,  as 
in  other  temperate  regions,  every  mountain  face  which 
exceeds  a  certain  steepness  will  be  free  from  permanent 
snow,  except  where  seamed  by  gullies  or  interrupted 
by  ledges.  Again,  the  aspect  of  a  slope  must  obviously 
make  a  great  difference.  If  it  faces  to  the  north  it 
almost  never  receives  a  ray  from  the  sun ;  if  to  the 
south,  it  basks  in  the  full  blaze  of  the  noontide 
radiance ;  thus,  without  discussing  other  disturbing 
causes  we  need  not  hesitate  to  say  that  in  the  Alps,  as 
in  other  mountain  regions,  we  cannot  attain  to  more 
than  a  general  accuracy  in  any  statements  about  the 
height  of  the  snow-line. 

The  chain  also  extends  over  at  least  4°  of  lati- 
tude, which  means  a  difference  of  9^  F.  in  the  mean 
temperature  of  extreme  positions  at  sea-level ;  or  that, 
other  things  being  alike,  the  southern  snow-line 
would  be  quite  2,700  feet  higher  than  the  northern. 
The  difference  also  in  longitude  of  its  western  and 
eastern  ends  is  nearly  11°,  so  that  at  the  one 
the  climate  is  more  of  an  oceanic,  at  the  other  of  a 
continental  type,  which  affects  the  amount  of  snow, 
both  received  and  expended.  The  effect  also  of  a 
large  area  of  exceptionally  elevated  ground,  such  as 
the  High  Alps  of  Dauphind,  is  to  lower  the  snow-line 

104 


Distribution  of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

in  its  immediate  vicinity.  Partich's  method  of  obtain- 
ing the  height  of  the  snow-line  ^  is  to  tabulate  the  lowest 
points  or  ridges  which  are  permanently  snowclad  and 
the  highest  which  are  similarly  bare,  and  take  the  mean 
of  the  two.  But  this  obviously  is  very  laborious,  and 
must  involve  difficulties  in  dealing  with  snow  in  clefts 
and  other  sheltered  positions,  so  that  we  may  have  to 
be  content  with  statements  which  are  not  more  than 
roughly  accurate.  The  height  of  the  snow-line, 
according  to  Hann,^  in  the  Middle  and  Western  Alps 
(lat.  46°  ;  say,  Zermatt)  is  8,858  feet ;  in  the  Central 
Tyrol  (lat.  47°  ;  say,  the  Brenner  Pass),  9,252  feet,  and 
in  the  Hohe  Tauern  (farther  east  along  the  same 
parallel),  9,353  feet.  If  I  may  venture  to  oppose  my 
experience  to  the  results  of  statistics,  I  should  regard 
these  statements  as  slightly  in  excess,  and  think  we 
should  not  be  far  wrong  in  putting  it  at  about  8,000  feet 
in  the  mountains  more  immediately  north  of  the  Rhone 
Valley  and  about  8,500  feet  for  those  to  the  south 
of  it.  In  the  Graian  and  the  Dauphine  Alps,  the 
snow-line  of  course  is  higher,  but  I  doubt  whether, 
even  in  the  latter,  it  attains  9,000  feet. 

Glaciers  do  not  form  till  a  higher  level  is  reached,  and 
in  this  case  the  configuration  of  the  ground  is  more  than 
ever  important.  As  a  rough  estimate,  I  should  place 
the  glacier-generating  limit  about  a  thousand  feet 
higher  than  the  snow-line.  But  here  also  a  precise 
statement  is  even  less  possible,  for  there  is  no  abrupt 
passage  from  a  bed  of  permanent  snow  to  a  glacier. 

^  Applied  by  V.  Paschinger  to  the  French  Alps.  Zeitschrift 
fiir  Gletscherkunde^  January,  191 1,  quoted  in  the  Geographical 
Journaly  vol.  xxxviii.  p.  210. 

^  Handbuch  der  Klimatologie  (1883),  p.  196. 

105  ' 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

In  such  a  bed  the  lower  part  is  converted  into  ice,  to 
some  extent  by  pressure,  but  still  more  by  a  melting 
at  the  surface  and  the  water  freezing  again  as  it  is 
percolating  downwards.  The  great  snow  slopes,  which 
cling  to  all  but  the  steepest  parts  of  the  higher  peaks, 
though  the  avalanches  discharged  from  their  surfaces 
help  in  feeding  the  glaciers  which  are  forming  in  the 
valleys  immediately  beneath  them,  are  not,  strictly 
speaking,  glaciers.  The  snow  of  which  these  slopes 
consist  is  fast  frozen  to  the  rocks,  and  is  parted  by 
a  deep  fissure  called  the  bergschrund  irom.  the  neve, 
firn,  or  supply  basin  of  the  glacier.  In  the  latter 
also  the  snow  is  frozen,  but  it  is  moving,  though  very 
slowly,  and  is  thus  torn  away  from  the  former,  which  is 
at  rest.  This  neve,  however,  at  any  rate  in  the  upper 
part,  is  not  yet  glacier  ice,  the  change  from  the  one 
state  to  the  other  being  slow,  and,  as  we  shall  presently 
see,  in  some  way  dependent  on  the  motion  of  the  mass, 
which  is  more  rapid  in  the  glacier  as  it  is  descending  a 
valley,  than  in  the  broad  supply  basin  of  the  nev6,  just 
as  would  be  the  case  with  a  stream  and  the  tarn  from 
which  it  issues.  Probably,  indeed,  the  ice  in  a  glacier 
undergoes  more  than  one  change  in  structure  before 
it  finally  melts ;  but  this  question,  and  the  physical 
cause  of  the  movement,  we  must  leave  for  the 
present. 

The  neve,  as  we  can  see  from  an  examination 
of  the  walls  in  one  of  the  great  rents  by  which  it 
is  occasionally  traversed,  has  a  distinctly  bedded 
structure,  being  built  up  of  successive  layers  which 
indicate  distinct  periods  or  seasons  of  snowfall ;  the 
glacier  consists  either  of  clear,  solid  ice,  resembling 
that  formed  on  a  lake  during  a   prolonged  frost,   or 

1 06 


Distribution  of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

of  alternating  bands  of  this  and  a  more  porous 
whiter  kind.  To  this  structure  also  we  must  return, 
but  it  may  suffice  at  present  to  point  out  that  all 
stages  exist  between  a  bed  of  frozen  snow  and  a 
true  glacier ;  the  intermediate  being  exhibited  in 
glaciers  of  the  second  order,  as  they  have  often 
been  called.  These,  as  Principal  J.  D.  Forbes  ob- 
served, perish  soon,  because  their  collecting  basins 
are  small.  *'  The  amount  of  overflow,  or  the  dis- 
charge of  the  glacier — upon  which  depends  the  extent 
of  its  prolongation  into  the  lower  valleys — depends 
in  its  turn  on  the  extent  of  the  neve  or  collect- 
ing reservoir."  ^  Thus,  no  true  glaciers  are  now  to 
be  found  in  the  Cottian  Alps,  though  Monte  Viso 
rises  to  a  height  of  12,609  feet  above  sea-level, 
and  permanent  snow-beds,  as  we  can  see  on  passes 
near  its  base,  exist  at  a  level  of  9,000  feet  or  even 
a  little  below  it.  But  so  steep  are  its  crags  and 
slopes  that  the  snow  can  only  cling  to  these  ;  no- 
where is  the  head  of  a  valley  both  large  and  elevated 
enough  to  give  birth  to  a  glacier.  In  other  parts 
of  the  Alps,  glaciers  may  exist  in  one  part  of  a 
range  and  be  absent  from  another.  For  instance, 
in  the  Graian  Alps,  south  of  Aosta,  the  rocky  pyramid 
of  Mont  Emilius  attains  a  height  of  11,677  ^^^t, 
and  looks  down  upon  glens,  the  heads  of  which  are 
quite  9,500  feet  above  sea-level :  yet  in  these  the 
glaciers  are  at  most  only  of  the  second  order,  while 
on  the  southern  side  of  the  Cogne  valley  even  the 
Col  della  Nouva,  though  only  9,623  feet  in  height, 
is  approached  by  a  glacier  which,  though  small,  is  more 
normal  in  character  ;  while  farther  to  the  west,  owing 
^  J.  D.  Forbes,  "  Occasional  Papers  on  Glaciers,"  p.  244  (1859). 

107 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

not  only  to  the  greater  elevation  of  the  adjacent  peaks, 
but  also  to  the  configuration  of  the  higher  regions,  a 
considerable  amount  of  ice  must  be  traversed  to  reach 
either   the    Col   de  Monei  (11,247    ^^^t)  or    the   Col 
de   Grandcroux   (10,844  feet)  ;    the  glacier  from   the 
latter  descending    to  a  comparatively   low  level.     In 
fact,   all   the  great  glaciers  in   the  Alps  are   born   on 
the  gentler  slopes  and  cradled  in  the  basin-like  heads 
of  the  valleys  among  the  higher  peaks.     Of  this   no 
better  illustration  can  be  found  than  the  Great  Aletsch 
Glacier,  which  is  the  largest  in  the  Alps,  being  about 
16   miles  in  length,  and  for  the  greater  part  of  its 
course  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  in  width.     Here, 
from  a  central  point,  near  the  well-known  Concordia 
Club  hut,^  **  in  what  has  been  happily  called  the  Place 
de  la  Concorde  of  Nature,  four  snow  valleys  diverge 
at  right  angles."     The  one  running  southward  is  the 
channel    of  the  effluent    ice-stream.      *'  That    leadinor 
N.W.    to    the  Jungfrau    Joch,   called    the    Jungfrau 
Firn,  is  naturally  considered  as  the  principal  source 
of  the  Aletsch    Glacier,  as    being  in  the  same   line 
with   the  main  channel    by   which    the    traveller  has 
ascended.     To  the  S.W.   an  avenue  of  neve,  equal 
in  dimensions  to  the  main  stream,  ascends  by  a  gentler 
slope  to  the  Lotschen  Llicke.     In  the  opposite  direc- 
tion,   or    N.E.,    the  Grtinhorn  Glacier  mounts    by   a 
rather  shorter  and  steeper  inclination  to  the  Grtinhorn 
Llicke,    connecting    the    snow-basin   of    the    Fiesch 
Glacier   with    that    of    Aletsch."  ^      Between     these 

*  There  is  now  also  a  little  inn,  the  height  being  9,416  feet ;  so 
that  more  comfortable  night  quarters  can  be  obtained  than  in  the 
old  days  when  the  Faulberg  Cave  was  the  only  possible  shelter. 

^  "The  Alpine  Guide  :  the  Central  Alps,"  part  i.  p.  104  (1907). 

108 


Distribution  of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

highways  rise  some  of  the  most  elevated  peaks 
in  the  Oberland — the  Aletschhorn  and  the  Jung- 
frau,  the  Monch  and  the  Gross  Fiescherhorn — all 
of  them  exceeding  13,000  feet  in  altitude.  The 
glaciers  also  from  the  Aiguilles  to  the  east  of  Mont 
Blanc  are  much  shorter  on  the  southern  than  on  the 
northern  side,  because  of  the  greater  steepness  of 
the  former,  and  the  same  rule  holds  good  of  the  Pen- 
nines  generally  and  in  the  Bernina.  The  difference  in 
aspect  also  co-operates,  but  we  must  not  forget  that 
in  the  Central  Oberland  the  bigger  glaciers  are  on 
the  southern  side  of  the  watershed. 

As  the  glacier-generating  line  is  about  a  thousand 
feet  above  the  snow-line,  it  will  probably  correspond 
roughly  with  the  isotherm  of  27°.  But,  as  I  have 
already  said,  other  circumstances  may  make  this  neces- 
sary condition  inoperative,  so  that  the  Alpine  glaciers 
are  rather  irregularly  distributed.  To  enumerate  all, 
to  which  this  title  may  fairly  be  applied  would  be 
little  better  than  compiling  a  catalogue  of  names,  so 
I  shall  restrict  myself  to  mentioning  the  more  con- 
spicuous. According  to  A.  Heim's  valuable  memoir  ^ 
they  number,  with  those  of  the  second  order,  fully  1,150. 
Small  glaciers  occur  on  the  Dachstein  (9,845  feet)  south 
of  Hallstadt  and  the  Uebergossene  Alp  (9,643  feet),  a 
few  miles  to  the  west  in  the  Berchtesgaden  district, 
but  they  are  hardly  more  than  large  snowfields,  and 
the  first  of  any  importance  are  grouped  around  the 
Gross  Glockner   (12,455    feet),  where  the    Pasterze^ 

^  Handbuch  der  Gletscherkunde  (1885),  p.  49. 

^  The  Gross  Glockner  rises  at  the  side,  not  at  the  head  of  this 
glacier,  and  the  view  of  it  from  near  Heiligenblut  in  the  opinion  of 
the  first  editor  of  the   "  Alpine  Guide  "  (J.  Ball),  "  surpasses  any- 

109 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

Glacier  is  rather  more  than  six  and  a  quarter  miles 
long.  I  Another,  but  slightly  lower  group,  has  for  its 
centre  the  Gross  Venediger  (12,053  ^eet),  which, 
though  less  lofty  than  the  Glockner,  is  better  adapted 
by  its  form  for  the  development  of  icefields.  These 
also  are  frequent  but  not  large,  in  the  slightly  com- 
plex Zillerthal  range,  rather  farther  west  on  the 
central  watershed,  in  which  seven  or  eight  of  the 
peaks  exceed  11,000  feet  and  a  good  many  do  not 
fall  much  below  it.  Beyond  the  deep  gap  of  the 
Brenner  Pass  glaciers  become  more  frequent. 
Those  of  the  Stubayer  range,  the  highest  point  in 
which  attains  11,512  feet,  are  numerous  rather  than 
extensive,  but  a  more  important  group  clusters  about 
the  head  of  the  Oetzthal,  where  the  peaks  twice 
surpass  12,000  feet  in  height.  This  group,  according 
to  Von  Sonklar,  includes  over  230  glaciers,  several 
of  which  are  among  the  most  considerable  in  the 
Alps.  Perhaps  the  latter  statement  is  slightly  ex- 
aggerated, but  the  Hintereis  is  6  miles  long  and  the 
Gepatsch  6 J.  2  Slightly  to  the  west  of  south,  some 
dozen  miles  away  across  the  upper  valley  of  the 
Etsch  or  Adige,  rises  another  and  yet  more  impres- 
sive   group    of    mountains,    partly    calcareous,    the 

thing  of  the  same  kind  to  be  gained  from  any  inhabited  place,  not 
reckoning  the  mountain  peaks  of  Switzerland ''  :  a  remark  which  I 
could  not  venture  to  dispute.  There  is  a  fairly  good,  though 
rather  too  "spiky,"  chromolithographic  picture  of  this  view  as  a 
frontispiece  in  Dr.  A.  Von  Ruthner's  pleasant  "  Berg  und  Gletscher- 
Reisen  in  den  osterreichischen  Hochalpen  "  (1864). 

^  This  and  the  subsequent  statements  about  the  length  of  glaciers 
are  taken  from  the  "Alps  in  Nature  and  History"  by  W.  A.  B. 
Coolidge  (1908). 

*  W.  A.  B.  Coolidge,  id.,  p.  351. 

IIO 


lO.    UPPER   SNOWFIELDS   OF  THE   ORTLER. 
(From  a  photograph  by  Mrs.  Aubrey  Le  Blond.) 


To  face  p.  iia. 


Distribution  of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

highest  summit  of  which,  the  noted  Ortler  Spitze, 
is  12,802  feet  above  sea-level.  The  view  of  it  from 
near  the  summit  of  the  Stelvio  Pass  is  one  of  the 
grandest  afforded  by  any  carriage  road  in  the  Alps. 
Another  fine  neighbouring  peak,  the  Konig  Spitze, 
is  not  quite  150  feet  lower,  and  the  glaciers  are 
numerous,  some  attaining  a  considerable  size.  The 
mass  consists  of  four  or  five  spurs  radiating  from  the 
Monte  Cevedale  (12,343  feet);  for  the  Ortler  itself  lies 
on  the  north-western  of  these,  some  distance  from 
the  centre.  A  few  miles  away  to  the  south,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  Tonale  Pass,  is  the  fine  group 
of  the  Adamello,  which  has  been  already  mentioned. 
In  the  Dolomite  Mountains,  south  of  the  central 
watershed,  only  one  glacier  claims  even  a  passing 
notice,  that  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Marmolata 
(11,024  feet),  and  it  does  not  actually  descend  into  a 
valley. 

Proceeding  westwards  from  the  above-named  group 
we  find  small  and  scattered  glaciers  becoming  more 
numerous  as  we  approach  the  eastern  border  of 
Switzerland,  but  the  first  really  large  icefields  occur 
in  the  Bernina  group,  of  which  the  highest  peak  just 
surpasses  13,300  feet,  and  several  exceed  12,000  feet. 
The  Morteratsch  and  the  Roseg,  on  the  northern 
side,  are  fine  specimens  of  valley  glaciers,  and  the 
Palii,  though  inferior  in  size,  is  remarkably  beautiful. 
On  the  southern  side  the  glaciers,  though  fed  by 
extensive  snowfields,  are  distinctly  less  important,  and 
so  are  those  on  the  Monte  Disgrazia,  which,  though 
only  a  Httle  more  than  12,000  feet  above  the  sea, 
looks  every  inch  of  its  height  owing  to  its  comparative 
isolation.      Though  scattered  glaciers  are  numerous 

III 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

west  of  the  Upper  Inn,  hardly  any  are  remarkable 
till  we  reach  the  valley  of  the  Reuss.  Its  comparative 
isolation  gives  a  certain  dignity  to  the  Piz  Valrhein, 
and  the  Todi,  a  grand  limestone  mass,  which  rises 
to  a  height  of  11,887  f^^^'  i^  the  culminating  point 
of  a  rather  scattered  group  of  icefields,  among  which 
the  Biferten  Glacier,  which  descends  from  the  Todi 
itself  towards  the  Linththal,  and  the  Hiifi  Glacier, 
draining  into  the  Reuss  through  the  Maderanerthal, 
are  the  most  important. 

Between  the  passes  of  St.  Gotthard  and  the  Sim- 
plon,  the  glaciers,  until  we  approach  the  latter,  are 
small  and  scattered ;  for  the  Blindenhorn  is  the  only 
point  in  the  range,  which  slightly  exceeds  1 1,000  feet. 
From  it  the  principal  glacier — the  Gries — which  is 
about  four  miles  in  length  and  nearly  one  mile  in 
width,  takes  its  rise.  This  is  chiefly  interesting 
because  one  part  of  it  is  so  even  as  to  be  crossed 
by  the  track  to  the  Gries  Pass  (8,098  feet),  which  is 
easily  traversed  by  beasts  of  burden,  and  according  to 
Dr.  Coolidge  ^  is  doubtless  the  route  by  which  the 
still-existing  German-speaking  colony  came  into  the 
Val  Formazza  in  the  thirteenth  century.  It  also 
served,  in  combination  with  the  Grimsel,  for  the 
transport  of  merchandise  between  Italy  and  the 
Bernese  Oberland,  and  continued  to  be  an  important 
commercial  route  till  after  the  earlier  part  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  when  it  gave  place  to  the  Antrona 
Pass,  between  Saas  and  Villa,  in  the  Tosa  valley 
south  of  Domo  d'Ossola,  both  of  which  routes  were 
practically  superseded  by  the  Simplon  Pass. 

^  "  The  Alps  in  Nature  and  in  History,"  by  W.  A.  B.  Coolidge, 
p.  172. 

112 


:  :  i ' ; :  ' 
■•  J  **  » 


m-^-*-^ 


;.:3- 


'•»  ♦ 


Distribution  of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

But  on  the  western  side  of  the  glen  down  which  the 
Reuss  hurries  on  its  way  to  the  Lake  of  Lucerne,  we 
come  to  one  of  the  great  glacier  regions — the  giant 
range  of  the  Oberland.  Its  eastern  outpost — for  this 
is  severed  from  the  main  mass  by  the  valley  of  the 
Aar  and  the  comparatively  low  pass  of  the  Grimsel 
(7,100  feet) — is  the  group  of  peaks  around  the  Stein 
Alp  Glacier,  known  collectively  as  the  Sustenhorner, 
and  those  others,  north  of  the  Furka  Pass,  where  the 
Galenstock  (11,802  feet)  overlooks  the  great  ice- 
stream  of  the  Rhone  glacier.  North  of  this,  and  just 
severed  from  the  first-named  group  by  the  gap  of  the 
Susten  Pass,  is  the  snowy  ridge  culminating  in  the 
Titlis  (10,627  feet),  and  the  Gross  Spannort  (10,506 
feet),  two  fine  masses  of  snow-capped  limestone  crags  ; 
and  yet  farther  north  is  the  not  less  grand,  though 
lower  (9,620  feet)  mass  of  the  Uri  Rothstock.  Across 
the  glen  of  the  Upper  Aar,  as  if  to  compensate  for  the 
lowness  of  the  Lepontine  range — the  watershed  of 
the  chain — rises  the  great  massif,  commonly  called  the 
Bernese  Oberland,  the  peaks  of  which  are  not  often 
surpassed  in  height,  nor  the  glaciers  in  length,  by  any 
part  of  the  Alps,  for  the  Finsteraarhorn  just  over- 
tops 14,000  feet,  and  ten  others  lie  between  that 
elevation  and  13,000  feet.  Of  its  largest  glacier,  the 
Gross  Aletsch,  about  16  miles  long,  we  have  already 
spoken  ;  but  the  Unteraar,  in  which  branches  from 
either  side  of  the  Schreckhorn  unite  to  flow  eastward  as 
the  source  of  the  River  Aar,  is  about  10  miles  in  length. 
The  Fiescher  Glacier  is  the  same.  The  Oberaar 
Glacier  also  is  by  no  means  a  small  one,  nor  are  the 
Ober  and  the  Unter  Grindelwald  Glaciers  (the  latter 
6\   miles),  which    flow   towards  the   north,    nor   the 

113  H 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

Rosenlaui,  the  Gauli  (8J  miles),  and  the  Ober 
Aletsch  Glacier,  which  must  formerly  have  joined  its 
larger  neighbour  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Belalp. 
At  the  western  end  the  Lotschenthal  pierces  deeply 
into  this  great  mountain  mass  of  snow  and  ice.  The 
southern  arm  culminates  in  the  Bietschhorn  (12,970 
feet),  one  of  the  grandest  pyramids  in  the  Alps,  and 
then  rather  quickly  sinks  down  to  the  ordinary  level ; 
the  northern  one  supports  the  extensive  snowfield  of 
the  Petersgrat,  which  sweeps  round  the  head  of  the 
Gasterenthal  to  the  outlying  Balmhorn  and  Altels, 
and  looks  across  the  Kander  Glacier  to  the  fine  group 
of  the  Bllimlis  xA.lp,  the  highest  summit  in  which  is  a 
little  over  12,000  feet.  Then  the  deep  gap  of  the 
Gemmi  Pass  (7,641  feet)  breaks  the  continuity  of 
the  snow  range  in  the  Oberland,  which  indeed  has 
already  been  nearly  severed  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  Balmhorn  by  the  Lotschen  Pass  (8,842  feet), 
connecting  the  Gasterenthal  with  the  Rhone  Valley 
by  the  Lotschenthal.  Both  these  passes,  according 
to  Dr.  Coolidge,^  were  known  early  in  the  fourteenth 
century  ;  and  as  the  latter  of  these,  although  a  small 
glacier  occupies  its  summit,  presented  no  such  for- 
midable obstacle  as  the  precipitous  cliffs  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  Gemmi,  all  local  commerce  for 
long  passed  over  it.  But  after  a  good  path  had  been 
constructed  up  those  cliffs,  it  once  more  became  a 
lonely  pass  between  two  lonely  valleys.  Its  name, 
however,  has  of  late  become  familiar,  for  the  great 
tunnel,  constructed  to  shorten  the  route  between 
northern  Germany  and  Italy,  has  been  carried  beneath 
it.  West  of  the  Gemmi,  the  line  of  the  Oberland 
^  Loc.  cit.y  p.  174. 
114 


Distribution  of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

range  is  continued  by  the  insulated  snowfields,  with 
only  small  glaciers,  of  the  Wildstrubel  (10,673  feet), 
the  Wildhorn  (10,709  feet),  and  the  Diablerets 
(10,650  feet). 

Where  the  massif  of  the  Oberland  declines  in 
importance,  that  of  the  main  range  begins  to  assert 
itself.  Just  east  of  the  Simplon  Pass,  the  snow- 
clad  mass  of  Monte  Leone,  from  which  the  Kalt- 
wasser  Glacier  almost  descends  to  the  road,  rises  to 
a  height  of  11,683  ^^^t'  forming  the  eastern  outpost 
of  the  great  icefields  of  the  Pennines.  In  the  range 
immediately  west  of  the  Simplon,  between  that 
gap  and  the  Saasthal,  the  glaciers  are  larger  on  the 
western  than  on  the  eastern  side,  where  hardly  one 
is  of  much  importance.  That  is  no  doubt  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  great  rock  barrier — though  its  three 
principal  summits,  the  Rossbodenhorn,  Laquinhorn, 
and  Weissmies,  all  overtop  13,000  feet — is  generally 
very  steep  on  this  side.  This  barrier  is,  to  a  certain 
extent,  isolated  from  the  main  group  of  snowy  giants 
farther  to  the  west,  for  its  watershed  nearer  to  the 
head  of  the  Saasthal  is  crossed  by  the  Antrona  Pass 
(9^331  feet),  once  an  important  trade  route,  and  the 
Monte  Moro  (9,390  feet),  which,  although  never  quite 
free  from  snow,  together  with  the  Ofen  Pass  of  the 
same  elevation,  was  often  used  before  the  days  of 
carriage  roads. 

West  of  the  Monte  Moro  begins  a  great  group  of 
mountains,  which,  if  its  glaciers  are  slightly  smaller 
than  those  of  the  Oberland  and  its  principal  summit  is 
overtopped  by  Mont  Blanc,  yields  to  neither  district 
in  the  area  covered  by  snow  and  ice  or  in  the  average 
elevation  of  its  crests.     Only  in   one  place  between 

IIS 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

the  Monte  Moro  and  the  Great  St.  Bernard  does  its 
watershed  sink  below  10,000  feet  (at  the  Col  de  Fene- 
tre — 9,141  feet),  and  this  cannot  be  crossed  without 
traversing  a  glacier.  But  an  army  went  over  it  in 
1476  ;  so  did  Calvin  sixty  years  later,  escaping  to  Aosta 
from  his  enemies  ;  and  it  was  fortified,  rather  more 
than  a  century  afterwards,  to  prevent  the  Vaudois 
refugees  from  returning  to  their  homes.  ^  Four  im- 
portant valleys,  each  bifurcating,  cut  back  deep  into 
the  heart  of  this  range,  the  highest  peaks  of  which 
are  grouped  around  their  heads,  the  descents  being 
steeper  and  the  glaciers  smaller  on  the  southern  side 
than  on  the  northern.  The  westernmost  of  these 
■peaks  form  a  great  loop  which  encloses  the  Zermatt 
Visp,  and  separates  that  river  from  the  Saasthal 
branch,  the  two  uniting  at  Stalden.  Its  eastern 
side  is  generally  steeper  than  its  western,  but  this, 
apparently,  does  not  always  determine  the  size  of  the 
glaciers.  The  Balfrinhorn  (12,473  feet),  so  grandly 
seen  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Visp,  is  its  northern- 
most peak.  To  the  south  of  this  is  the  Ried  Pass 
(11,800  feet),  from  which  a  long  glacier  descends 
towards  the  west,  and  none  of  any  importance  in  the 
opposite  direction.  Then  rises  the  long  range  of 
the  Mischabelhorner,  the  three  chief  peaks  of  which, 
the  Siidlenz,  the  Dom,  and  the  Taschhorn,  fall  but 
little  short  of  15,000  feet;  the  second  of  these — the 
loftiest  mountain  entirely  in  Switzerland — attaining 
14,942  feet.  On  the  eastern  side  these  peaks  are 
very  precipitous,  but  neither  on  it  nor  on  the  western 
are  the  glaciers  remarkable  for  their  volume.  But 
from  the  Taschhorn  southward  a  marked  change 
'  Ball's  6uide,  *'  Western  Alps,"  p.  439  (1898). 
116 


I 


Distribution  of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

occurs  in  the  structure  of  this  spur  and  the  distribu- 
tion of  its  glaciers.  It  recedes  somewhat  to  the  west 
and  they  become  larger  on  the  eastern  side.  Its  crest 
also  is  not  quite  such  a  continuous  wall,  and  the 
separate  peaks  are,  on  the  whole,  less  precipitous 
and  more  variable  in  form.  Curving  gradually  and 
crowned  by  the  snowy  mass  of  the  Alphubel  (13,803 
feet)  and  the  less  impressive  cone  of  the  Allalinhorn 
(13,236  feet),  it  throws  out  a  spur  northwards  from 
the  latter,  so  as  to  form  a  gigantic  corrie,  extending 
from  the  Sudlenz  Spitz  at  the  one  end  to  the  Mittag- 
horn  (10,330  feet)  on  the  other.  This  shelters  the 
great  slopes  of  n6v6  and  masses  of  broken  ice,  which 
are  often  collectively  designated  the  Fee  Glacier.  To 
this  great  mountain  amphitheatre  we  must  return,  for 
it  is  also  an  exceptionally  fine  example  of  a  so-called 
hanging  valley.  But  all  the  glaciers  on  the  western  side 
are  comparatively  small.  From  the  Allalinhorn  the 
crest  makes  a  similar  though  less  pronounced  recession 
to  the  west,  running  through  the  rocky  block  of  the 
Rimpfischhorn  (13,790  feet)  to  the  graceful  peak  of 
the  Strahlhorn  (13,751  feet),  where  it  ends  abruptly 
over  the  great  precipices  which  descend  for  some 
6,000  feet  to  the  Italian  valley  of  Macugnaga, 
another  peculiarity  in  mountain  structure  which  must 
be  discussed  presently.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the 
above-named  peaks  is  a  huge  n6v6,  which  feeds  two 
ice-streams ;  the  smaller  and  more  northern  of  them, 
called  the  Hochlaub  Glacier,  being  only  separated  in 
its  lower  part  from  the  Allalin  Glacier.  This,  in  the 
memory  of  some  now  living,  not  only  descended 
to  the  level  of  the  valley,  but  welled  up  on  the  other 
side  far  enough  to  hold  back  the  main  torrent  and 

117 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

form  the  Mattmark  See,  which  in  those  days  was 
larger  in  size  and  more  attractive  in  aspect  than  at 
the  present  time.  On  the  western  side  of  this  part  of 
the  crest  the  glaciers  are,  perhaps,  a  little  larger  than 
those  farther  north,  and  the  united  waters  of  the  range 
from  the  Taschhorn  to  the  Rimpfischhorn  are  carried 
to  the  Zermatt-Visp  by  a  glen  which  exceeds  in 
length  its  other  tributaries. 

The  watershed  of  the  Alps,  south  of  the  Strahlhorn, 
runs  in  one  direction  almost  due  east  to  the  Monte 
Moro  Pass,  supplying  the  large  Schwarzberg 
Glacier,  which  also  not  very  long  ago  reached  the 
floor  of  the  main  valley. 

In  the  other  direction  its  course  is  generally  to 
the  south-south-west,  and  its  crest  oscillates  from 
about  11,500  to  12,500  feet.  Its  eastern  side  is 
a  wall  of  rock,  more  than  a  mile  in  vertical  height, 
on  which  no  glacier  of  importance  can  find  a  footing ; 
its  western  is  covered  by  a  huge  sheet  of  neve. 
This  at  first  is  unbroken,  but  presently  a  rocky  ridge 
emerging  like  a  reef  from  a  sea,  rises  a  little  abruptly 
to  its  highest  point  in  the  Stockhorn  (11,595  feet), 
and  extends  through  the  well-known  Corner  Grat 
(10,290  feet)  to  the  Riffelhorn  (9,617  feet),  separating 
the  great  ice-stream  of  the  Findelen  Glacier  from 
the  still  larger  one  of  the  Gorner,  which  is  9  J  miles  in 
length.  The  former  once  descended  nearly  to  the  level 
of  the  main  valley;  the  latter  in  i860  was  ploughing 
up  the  turf  on  the  undulating  meadows  only  two  or 
three  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  Zermatt.  But 
the  Gorner  Glacier  brings  down  ice  from  much  more 
than  the  comparatively  low  and  limited  part  of  the 
watershed    already    mentioned.      The    latter,    about 

118 


Distribution  of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

three  miles  distance  from  the  Strahlhorn,  rises 
abruptly  to  the  huge  mass  of  Monte  Rosa,  from 
which  it  sweeps  away  towards  the  west,  streaming 
with  glaciers,  altogether  six  in  number,  which  unite 
with  the  Corner.  Nowhere  in  the  Alps  can  we 
find  such  a  confluence  of  frozen  waters.  One 
descends  between  two  rocky  bastions  from  the  two 
highest  peaks  of  Monte  Rosa,  the  Dufour  Spitze 
and  the  Nord  End  ;  another  and  much  larger  one 
sweeps  down  between  that  mountain  and  the  snowy 
slopes  of  the  Lyskamm,  the  lowest  point  in  the 
connecting  saddle  being  not  less  than  14,033  feet 
above  sea-level.  Other  contingents  descend  from 
the  white-robed  Twins,  Castor  and  Pollux,  and  the 
long  ridge  of  the  Breithorn  ;  and  at  last  comes  a  not 
inconsiderable  glacier  which,  besides  receiving  ice 
from  the  third  of  those  mountains,  also  takes  it 
from  the  subordinate  crag  of  the  Petit  Mont 
Cervin  and  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the 
Theodule  Pass,  where  this  mighty  wall  of  rock  and 
snow  and  ice  suddenly  drops  down  to  a  little  less 
than  11,000  feet  above  sea-level,  after  having 
nowhere  fallen  below  12,200  feet,  and  for  some 
distance  everywhere  exceeded  14,000  feet.  In  no 
other  part  of  the  Alps  is  the  average  level  main- 
tained at  such  a  height  for  so  long  a  distance. 
For  about  three  miles  from  the  Theodule  Pass  the 
crest  rises  but  little  above  11,000  feet,  after  which 
it  suddenly  leaps  up  in  the  immense  pyramid  of 
the  Matterhorn,  but  it  supports  on  its  northern 
side  a  very  considerable  field  of  nev6,  part  of 
which  supplies  the  comparatively  small  Furgg 
Clacier.     A  peculiar   complication    is   now   apparent 

119 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

in  the  orographic  structure.  We  should  naturally 
anticipate  that  from  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  the  Matterhorn  a  spur  would  be  thrown  out 
northward  to  form  the  western  flank  of  the  Zermatt 
Valley.  But  instead  of  this  the  head  of  the  Zmutt 
Glacier — one  of  the  largest  of  its  ice-streams,  but  in 
its  lower  parts  the  least  impressive,  because  its  surface 
is  almost  entirely  concealed  by  debris — cuts  far  back 
into  the  range,  and  the  watershed  extends  westward 
from  the  Matterhorn  to  the  Dent  d'Herens.  There 
the  spur  takes  its  departure,  and  sweeps  round  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Zmutt  Glacier  before  beginning  its 
normal  course  towards  the  north.  As  a  result  of  this 
we  can  cross  from  that  glacier,  either  over  the  water- 
shed into  the  Valpelline,  or  into  the  Eringerthal,  or 
into  the  Einfischthal,  the  comparatively  unimportant 
snowy  hump  of  the  Tete  Blanche  (12,304  feet), 
forming  the  knot-point  between  three  separate 
valleys,  so  far  as  one  exists.  The  crest  of  the 
spur  then  runs  nearly  north  for  some  distance, 
overlooking  tributaries  to  the  Zmutt  Glacier,  one 
of  which,  the  Schonbuhl  Glacier,  is  of  some  im- 
portance, and  then  rises  in  the  Dent  Blanche  (14,308 
feet),  one  of  the  grimmest  and  greatest  of  these 
Alpine  giants.  A  projection  from  this  peak  separates 
the  upper  glens  of  the  Eringerthal,  and  the  Einfisch- 
thal, while  the  crest  of  the  spur  turns  for  a  little 
way  to  the  east,  where  the  Col  Durand  affords  an 
interesting  glacier  route  from  Zermatt  to  Zinal. 
Beyond  this,  at  the  Ober  Gabelhorn  (13,364  feet), 
the  spur  resumes  its  northward  course,  forming  a 
grand  line  of  peaks,  and  culminating  in  the  Weisshorn 
(14,804  feet),  which,  when  regarded  from  any  position 

120 


Distribution   of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

on  the  east,  north,  or  west,  is  perhaps  the  grandest 
pyramid  of  snow  and  rock  to  be  found  on  the  Alps. 
From  its  northern  side  a  fine  ice-stream,  the 
Turtmann  Glacier,  descends  into  a  comparatively 
short  valley,  bearing  the  same  name,  which  is 
intercalated  between  the  larger  valleys  of  the 
Navigenze  and  the  Visp.  In  fact,  there  is  a 
curious  similarity  between  the  two  great  mountain 
spurs  flanking  the  Zermatt  branch  of  the  latter 
river.  Each  is  limited,  apparently  partially  severed, 
at  its  southern  end,  in  the  one  case  by  the  Findelen, 
in  the  other  by  the  Zmutt  Glacier ;  in  each  the 
culminating  points,  the  MIschabelhorner  and  the 
Welsshorn,  stand  well  to  the  north,  while  the  Ried 
Glacier  in  the  one  corresponds  with  the  Turtmann 
Glacier  in  the  other. 

The  snowy  Grand  Cornier  (13,022  feet)  projects 
northward  from  the  Dent  Blanche  to  form  the 
starting-point  of  the  spur  which  divides  the  Einfisch- 
thal  into  two  branches,  sending  down  into  the 
western  and  smaller  of  them  the  not  inconsiderable 
Glacier  de  Moiry.  Another  great  loop  of  snow 
peaks  encloses  the  yet  larger  Eringerthal ;  a  spur 
projecting  northwards  from  its  middle  divides  this 
also  into  two  branches,  of  which  the  western  is  again 
the  smaller.  But  none  of  the  mountains  on  the 
southern  and  western  side  of  this  loop  reach  such 
elevations  as  do  their  neighbours  farther  east,  few 
of  their  summits  exceeding  12,000  feet.  Their  snow- 
fields,  however,  are  often  extensive,  and  their  glaciers 
Important.  But  these,  like  others,  have  shrunk  not  a 
little  during  the  last  half  century,  and  the  most  noted, 
the  Arolla  Glacier,  has  retreated  along  the  bed  of  the 

121 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

valley  to  a  greater  distance  from  the  old  hotel.  Its 
western  tributary,  the  Vuibez  Glacier,  is  connected 
by  a  broad  snow  saddle — the  Col  de  Chermontane 
(10,119  feet) — with  the  long  and  rather  level  Otemma 
Glacier,  which  descends,  nearly  parallel  with  the  water- 
shed, to  the  Val  de  Bagnes,  thus  forming  a  kind  of 
trough,  which  again  threatens  to  sever  the  spur  near 
its  junction  with  the  main  range. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  the  mountain  group 
drained  by  the  Dranse,  which  enters  the  Rhone  at 
Martigny.  Its  physical  geography  differs  in  some 
important  respects  from  that  of  its  eastern  neighbour. 
Its  two  main  branches,  the  Val  de  Bagnes  and  the 
Val  d'Entremont,  unite  at  Sembrancher,  but  the 
latter  has  been  already  joined  at  Orsieres  by  a  third 
one,  which,  as  it  drains  some  of  the  glaciers  on  the 
southern  flank  of  the  Mont  Blanc  range,  and  is  parallel 
with  its  axis,  is  of  orographic  importance.  A  grand 
mountain  block,  teeming  with  glaciers,  separates  the 
first  and  second  of  these  valleys,  and  in  that  also  the 
highest  summit  lies  distinctly  to  the  north  of  the  main 
watershed.  This  is  the  Grand  Combin  (14,164  feet), 
which  surpasses  every  peak  in  the  Oberland,  and  is 
only  exceeded  by  three  others — the  Weisshorn,  the 
Matterhorn,  and  the  Dent  Blanche — in  the  Central 
Pennines.  From  its  snow-clad  northern  flank  a  huge 
glacier — the  Corbassiere — descends  almost  to  the  floor 
of  the  Val  de  Bagnes  between  two  lofty  ridges,  the 
summits  of  which  rise  in  some  cases  above  12,000 
feet.  As  usual,  the  southern  face  of  the  Combin  is 
the  steepest,  and  the  great  glacier  of  the  Mont 
Durand,  running  nearly  parallel  with  the  watershed, 
and  leading  up  to  two  passes  less  than  11,500  feet  in 

122 


Distribution   of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

elevation,  makes  a  severance  in  this  spur  similar  to 
those  already  noticed.  The  main  watershed  also, 
which  for  some  distance  forms  the  right  bank  of  this 
glacier,  is  rather  deeply  notched ;  the  Col  de  Fenetre 
(9,141  feet)  being  the  first  place  west  of  the  Monte 
Moro  where  a  mule  path  ^  goes  over  the  Pennines. 

Nearly  to  the  south-west  of  the  Combin  the  glacier- 
clad  mass  of  the  Mont  Velan,  rising  to  a  height  of 
12,353  f^^^  brings  to  an  end  the  great  line  of  snowy 
peaks  which  we  have  been  following  from  the  last- 
named  pass.  As  usual,  no  glacier  of  any  importance 
occurs  on  its  Italian  side,  but  on  the  more  northern, 
the  Valsorey,  leading  to  the  Col  of  that  name,  and  the 
Tseudet,  unite  with  the  Sonadon  Glacier  from  the 
Grand  Combin  at  the  head  of  a  glen  descending 
to  Bourg  St.  Pierre,  on  the  well-known  Great  St. 
Bernard  road.  Between  the  Velan  and  the  lofty 
massif  of  Mont  Blanc,  a  distance  of  about  three 
miles  as  the  crow  flies,  but  much  more  when 
measured  along  the  zig-zag  line  of  the  watershed, 
we  find  no  glacier  of  importance,  for  none  of  the 
summits  reach  11,000  feet,  and  the  crest  occasionally 
drops  down  nearly  to  8,000  feet.  But  immediately 
beyond  the  depression  of  the  Col  Ferret,  the  range 
of  Mont  Blanc  towers  aloft  in  all  its  grandeur,  crowned 
by  magnificent  peaks  and  streaming  with  glaciers. 
Two  of  large  size,  the  Glacier  de  Saleinoz  and  the 
Glacier  du  Trient,  send  their  waters  to  the  Rhone, 
the  one  by  the  Dranse,  the  other  through  the  famous 
gorge  at  Vernayaz ;    while   a   third,   the   Glacier   du 

^  Formerly  a  small  glacier  had  to  be  crossed  on  the  Swiss  side, 
but  that,  as  the  ice  has  retreated,  is  no  longer  necessary  (Ball's 
Guide,  "Western  Alps,"  p.  442  (1898)). 

123 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

Tour,  drains  into  the  valley  of  Chamonix,  a  short 
distance  above  Argentiere.  For  some  time  the 
glaciers  on  the  more  eastern  face  of  the  range, 
south  of  the  Col  Ferret,  are  steep,  but  not  very 
large,  becoming  quite  unimportant  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Dent  du  Gdant.  Not  so,  however,  on  the 
other  face,  where  the  two  largest  in  the  range,  the 
Glacier  d'Argentiere  and  the  Glacier  des  Bois, 
descended  in  former  days  fully  down  to  the  level 
of  the  valley.  The  latter  is  the  larger,  for  its  total 
length  is  9J  miles,  equal  to  that  of  the  Gorner  at 
Zermatt.  The  name  just  given  applies,  however,  only 
to  its  steeper  lower  part ;  that  magnificent  causeway 
of  "  thick-ribbed "  ice  which  extends  from  below  the 
Montenvers  to  the  meeting-place  of  its  three  great 
affluents,  is  the  well-known  Mer  de  Glace.  Of  these 
affluents,  the  one  most  to  the  west,  which  has  the 
best  claim  to  be  regarded  as  the  main  stream, 
descends  from  the  noted  pass  of  the  Col  du  G6ant ' 
(11,060  feet),  and  is  flanked  on  one  side  by  the  crags 
extending  from  the  Mont  Maudit  (the  first  outpost 
on  this  side  of  Mont  Blanc)  to  the  Aiguille  des 
Grands  Charmoz ;  on  the  other  by  a  large  spur  from 
the  Dent  du  G6ant.  The  semicircle  of  splintered 
peaks  between  this  spur  and  the  Aiguille  Verte  is 
drained  by  two  fine  ice-streams,  the  Glacier  de 
Lechaud  and  the  Glacier  de  Talefre.  Both  these, 
as  well  as  the  upper  part  of  the  Glacier  du  Tacul, 
descend   rather   steeply,    and    thus   are    broken    into 

*  On  this  pass  De  Saussure  encamped  for  seventeen  days,  making 
observations.  "  In  spite  of  all  that  has  been  done  in  modern  times, 
no  more  striking  proof  has  ever  been  given  of  persevering  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  natural  science  "  (Ball,  ut  supra^  p.  365 ). 

124 


.      •,  /  \'J*\ 


»  * 
.»  » 


■ 


Distribution  of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

grand  s^racs.  The  last,  indeed,  has  been  compared 
to  the  foam  of  ten  Niagaras  placed  end  to  end  and 
stiffened  into  rest,  a  phrase  which  to  those  who  have 
seen  it  will  hardly  sound  exaggerated.  The  view 
from  the  upper  part  of  the  Mer  de  Glace  may  well 
contend  for  the  prize  of  beauty  with  that  from  near 
the  Concordia  Hut  in  the  Bernese  Oberland. 

From  the  snowy  cowl  of  Mont  Blanc,  as  might 
be  expected,  large  glaciers  radiate.  On  its  northern 
side  those  of  Taconnaz  and  the  Bossons  transport 
the  snows  which  have  accumulated  between  the 
two  spurs  extending  from  the  base  of  the  Calotte 
in  the  one  direction  to  the  Aiguille  du  Midi,  and 
on  the  other  to  the  Aiguille  du  Gotater.  On 
its  southern  side  the  magnificent  Brenva  Glacier 
descends  from  a  lofty  recess  a  little  east  of  the 
actual  summit,  and  it  once  reached  down  to  the 
stream  of  the  Doire  above  Entraigues.  On  the 
western  side  of  the  summit  four  glaciers  contribute 
their  waters  to  that  river,  but  only  two  of  them 
actually  unite  with  the  great  trunk  stream  of  the 
Miage  Glacier  which  descends  from  the  watershed  on 
the  western  side  of  Mont  Blanc  itself.  This  leads  to 
a  fine  pass,  only  1 1,077  ^^^t  in  height,  and  overlooking 
a  rock  wall,  at  the  foot  of  which  is  another  and  smaller 
Miage  Glacier,  which  sends  its  waters  by  St.  Gervais 
to  the  Arve.  Yet  farther  away  to  the  south-west  the 
last  high  peak  in  the  range,  the  Aiguille  de  Trelatete 
(12,832  feet),  gives  rise  to  two  considerable  glaciers, 
the  larger  of  which,  bearing  the  same  name,  takes  a 
more  or  less  westerly  course  and  *'  balances  that  of 
Trient  at  the  N.  extremity  of  the  same  range."  ' 
^  Ball,  ut  supra^  p.  377. 
I2J 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

At  the  Col  du  Bonhomme  (8,147  feet),  on  the  water- 
shed between  the  affluents  of  the  Arve  and  the  I  sere, 
the  gigantic  range  of  the  Western  Pennines  sinks  to 
comparative  insignificance,  and  though  its  axis  of 
crystalHne  rock  may  be  traced  into  Dauphin^,  it  is  not 
sufficiently  elevated  to  maintain  even  a  snowfield  of 
any  importance.  The  main  watershed  of  the  Alps, 
separating  the  upper  waters  of  the  Doire  from  those  of 
the  Isere,  also  continues  to  be  rather  low  for  some 
distance  to  the  south,  and  at  one  place,  where 
crossed  by  the  well-known  pass  of  the  Little  St. 
Bernard,  is  only  about  7,179  feet  above  sea-level. 
But  this  pass  marks  off  a  long  region  on  either  side 
of  the  Alpine  watershed.  The  eastern  half  consists 
of  the  long  spur  called  the  Graian  Alps  ;  the  western 
(sometimes  bearing  the  same  name)  is  more  com- 
monly known  as  the  Tarentaise  Alps.  Some  fine 
snow  peaks  and  fairly  large  glaciers  are  found  in  the 
former  region  ;  the  one  rising  either  from  the  crest 
or  a  little  north  of  it,  the  other  almost  always  on  that 
side.  These  peaks  and  snowfields  may  be  said  to 
have  two  centres ;  one  formed  by  the  massive  Grand 
Paradis  (13,324  feet)  with  the  noble  pyramid  of  the 
Grivola,  also  just  surpassing  13,000  feet,  which  has 
snow  on  the  two  northern  sides  and  steep  rock  on  the 
two  southern  ;  the  other  is  a  cluster  of  peaks,  exceeding 
1 1,000  feet  in  height,  which  gives  birth  at  its  western 
extremity  to  the  fine  Rhemes  Glacier.  The  two  snow 
regions  are  severed  at  the  head  of  the  Val  Savaranche 
by  an  easy  and  comparatively  low  pass,  the  Col  de  la 
Croix  de  Ni volet  (8,665  feet).  The  westernmost  of 
these  Graian  valleys,  the  Val  Grisanche,  is  bounded 
on  that  side  by  the  main  watershed  of  the  Alps,  on 

126 


Distribution  of  Snowfields  and  Glaciers 

which  rises  the  insulated  mass  of  the  Rutor  ^  with  its 
coronet  of  peaks,  the  highest  of  which  reaches  11,438 
feet.  This  supports  on  its  north-west  side  an  extensive 
glacier,  which  formerly  descended  to  the  little  Lac 
de  St.  Marguerite  (7,940  feet),  where  blue  crags  of 
ice  rose  above  the  water — a  small  and  even  more 
beautiful  rival  of  the  famous  Marjelen  See.  But  since 
1864  all  has  changed  ;  '*  the  lake  is  now  simply  a  big, 
dirty  pond,  with  a  moraine-besmirched  glacier  near 
it."  2  The  mountain  itself  commands  a  view  which  is 
hardly  surpassed  from  a  point  of  similar  altitude  in  any 
part  of  the  Alps.  South  of  the  Rutor,  the  watershed 
of  the  Alps  again  sinks,  though  twice  or  thrice  it  nearly 
reaches,  or  a  little  exceeds,  1 1 ,000  feet,  and  is  crossed 
at  one  place  by  the  Col  du  Mont  (8,681  feet),  an  old 
mule  track,  on  which  in  1794  there  was  some  fierce 
fighting  between  the  French  and  the    Piedmontese. 

Snowy  peaks,  however,  are  again  conspicuous 
where  the  watershed  between  France  and  Italy  curves 
a  little  to  the  east  around  the  head  of  the  Val  Gri- 
sanche.  The  highest  peak  in  the  group,  the  Grande 
Sassiere,  rises  to  12,323  feet,  and  fine  glacier  passes 
lead  from  Tignes  in  the  I  sere  valley  to  the  Val 
Grisanche,  to  the  Val  de  Rhemes,  and  to  Ceresole  on 
the  southern  side  of  the  eastern  Graians.  The  last- 
mentioned  pass,  the  Col  de  la  Galize,  though  9,836 
feet  in  height,  claims  the  distinction  of  being  ''one  of 

^  The  name  formerly  was  generally  written  Ruitor. 

^  Ball,  ut  supra,  p.  289.  A  watercolour  by  the  late  Elijah 
Walton,  representing  the  condition  of  the  ice  about  the  above-named 
date,  belongs  to  the  family  of  the  late  W.  Mathews,  one  of  the 
earliest  explorers  of  this  district,  and  I  have  a  rough  sketch  which  I 
made  in  1864. 

127 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

the  very  few  glacier  passes  between  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  Great  St.  Bernard  which  are  certainly  known 
to  have  been  traversed  "  so  early  as  the  sixteenth 
century.  I  At  the  present  day  it  is  crossed  often  by 
the  country  people  with  flocks  of  sheep,  and  some- 
times by  smugglers.  A  short  distance  farther  south, 
where  the  crest  of  the  Alpine  watershed  is  again  a 
little  depressed,  we  find  on  the  west  of  it  the  Col  du 
Mont  Iseran  (9,085  feet),  leading  from  the  head  of  the 
I  sere  valley  to  a  place  not  far  from  that  of  the  Arc. 
This  may  be  taken  as  the  division  between  the 
Eastern  and  the  Western  Graians,  and  though 
without  snowfields  or  glaciers  of  importance  in  its 
neighbourhood,  it  is  not  without  interest  as  having 
been  for  long  the  haunt  of  a  gigantic  but  mythical 
snow  peak,  the  Mont  Iseran.  This  was  mainly  the 
creation  of  certain  cartographers,  who  apparently 
transferred  the  Grand  Paradis  from  its  proper  position 
to  one  some  fifteen  miles  away,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  frontier  between  Italy  and  France.  Its  ghost  was 
exorcised  by  Mr.  W.  Mathews  2  in  1859,  and  finally 
laid  by  Mr.  J.  J.  Cowell3  in  i860.  The  Mont  Iseran 
is  only  a  pass  (9,085  feet),  quite  an  ordinary  mountain 
track,  not  far  from  which  is  a  rocky  hump,  the  Signal 
d' Iseran,  which  is  10,634  feet  in  height. 

The  Western  Graians  or  Tarentaise  Alps  do,  how- 
ever, contain  some  fine  snow  peaks,  surrounded  by 
fairly  large  glaciers.     Near  the  north-east  angle  of  the 

'  Ball,  ut  supray  p.  276. 

2  "  Peaks,  Passes,  and  Glaciers,"  series  ii.  vol.  ii.  p.  354. 

3  "  Vacation  Tourists  and  Notes  of  Travel  in  i860,"  p.  261.  A 
careful  epitome  of  the  story  is  given  by  Dr.  W.  A.  B.  Coolidge  in 
Ball's  Guide  {ut  supra,  pp.  230-32).  The  name  "  Mont  "  is,  in  the 
Alps,  often  applied  to  a  pass. 

128 


Distribution   of  Snowfields   and   Glaciers 

district  is  the  ridge  of  the  Mont  Pourri,  which  cul- 
minates in  a  graceful  pyramid,  12,428  feet  above 
the  sea,  well  seen  in  descending  from  the  Little 
St.  Bernard.  The  axis  of  the  Tarentaise,  if  the 
term  be  permissible,  continues  from  it  in  a  tortuous 
direction  towards  the  south-south-west,  and  on  this, 
almost  without  an  exception,  the  other  glacier  centres 
are  situated.  The  highest  of  them  is  the  Grand 
Casse  (12,668  feet  above  sea-level),  but  the  most 
extensive  ice-clad  area  bears  the  collective  name  of 
the  Glaciers  de  la  Vanoise,  the  culminating  point  of 
which  is  the  Dent  Parachee  (12,179  feet).  Another 
line  of  snow  peaks,  with  occasional  glaciers,  extends, 
with  more  or  less  interruption,  along  the  main  water- 
shed southwards  from  the  Col  de  Galize  to  the  Roche 
Melon.  Among  these  are  the  Levanna,  which  is  but 
little  below  12,000  feet,  the  Albaron  and  the  Cia- 
marella  which  rise  a  little  above  it,  and  the  Pointe  de 
Charbonel,  the  monarch  of  the  district,  situated  at  the 
end  of  a  long  spur  projecting  to  the  north-west  from 
the  frontier  range.  Peaks  above  11,000  feet  are 
fairly  numerous,  and  so  are  glaciers,  though  most  of 
them  are  small.  That  on  the  snow-capped  Roche 
Melon  is  crevassed  enough  to  oblige  the  pilgrims, 
who  annually  seek  its  summit,  to  make  a  very  con- 
siderable d6tour.  Rising  to  a  height  of  11,605  ^^^^y 
this  is  probably  the  highest  sacred  mountain  in 
Europe.  It  has  long  enjoyed  its  reputation,  for  a 
bronze  triptych,  which  was  once  preserved  in  the 
chapel  on  the  summit,  but  is  now  carried  thither  in 
solemn  procession  from  the  cathedral  of  Susa,  was 
first  enshrined  there,  according  to  tradition,  in  the 
year  1358.     On  this  elevated  position  Mass  is  said  on 

129  T 


The  Building  of  the   Alps 

August  5th,  the  festival  of  Notre  Dame  de  la  Neige. 
A  little  west  of  the  Roche  Melon  is  the  deep  trench 
of  the  Mont  Cenis  (6,893  feet),  beyond  which  the 
frontier  watershed,  though  here  and  there,  as  around 
the  Viso,  supporting  a  snowbed,  is  free  from  glaciers. 
For  them  we  must  look  to  the  massif  of  the 
Dauphin^  Alps,  which  is  in  reality  a  prolongation  of 
the  double,  if  not  triple,  crystalline  axis  of  Mont  Blanc. 
An  outlying  fold  * — the  Grandes  Rousses — attains  a 
height  of  1 1,395  feet  and  supports  a  fair-sized  glacier 
on  either  side  of  its  double-headed  ridge.  But  the 
great  area  of  peaks  and  glaciers  lies  rather  to  the 
south-east  where,  as  already  described,  it  rises 
abruptly  from  a  sea  of  lower  mountains,  and  is  linked 
to  the  range  south  of  the  Arc  by  the  Col  du  Lautaret 
(6,808  feet),  over  which  runs  the  high-road  from 
Grenoble  to  Brian9on.  These  peaks  and  glaciers 
form  a  great  loop  enclosing  the  mountain  valley  of  the 
V6n6on,  which  takes  a  course  to  the  north-west  to 
join  the  Romanche  at  Bourg  d'Oisans.  Though  the 
summits  of  this  district  are  lower  than  those  of  the 
Pennine  range,  and  its  glaciers  less  extensive  than 
the  ice-fields  of  the  Oberland,  it  surpasses  every 
other  part  of  the  Western  and  Central  Alps  in  the 
savage  grandeur  of  its  precipices  and  the  almost 
fantastic  outlines  of  its  peaks.  Two  of  these  surpass 
13,000  feet;  at  least  seventeen  lie  between  that  level 
and  12,000  feet;  many  of  its  passes  exceed  10,000 
feet,  and  its  glaciers,  including  those  of  the  second 
order,  are  more   than  one    hundred.  2     Of  these  the 

'  See  p.  86. 

2  T.    G.    Bonney,    "Outline   Sketches   in    the    High    Alps    of 
Dauphine"  (1865),  p.  xi. 


Distribution   of  Snowfields   and  Glaciers 

longest  are  the  Glacier  Blanc  and  the  Glacier  Noir, 
which  descend  from  its  highest  point,  Les  Ecrins 
(13,462  feet),  but  the  singular  sheet  of  neve,  which  is 
spread  like  a  cloth  on  the  huge  block  of  the  Mont  de 
Lans,  rising  to  about  11,700  feet  and  sending  down 
short  valley  glaciers  towards  the  north,  may  have  a 
larger  area.  East  of  this  glaciers  extend  along  the 
craggy  Meije  (13,081  feet),  the  Ecrins,  the  Ailefroide, 
the  Pelvoux,  and  other  points,  which  it  is  needless  to 
mention,  though  they  are  often  comparable  with  any 
in  the  Graians.  From  the  tabular  mass  of  the  Mont 
de  Lans  to  the  Col  de  la  Muande  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  loop,  every  part  of  the  range  rises  well  above 
10,000  feet,  and  only  those  can  cross  it  who  have  had 
some  experience  in  mountaineering ;  but  west  of  the 
latter  pass  the  peaks  become  gradually  rather  lower 
and  the  ice-fields  smaller.  Here,  with  this  solitary  but 
mighty  island  of  Dauphine,  the  glacier-bearing  regions 
of  the  Alps  come  rather  abruptly  to  an  end. 

Of  their  importance  as  feeders  of  rivers  it  is  needless 
to  speak.  As  the  ice  melts  during  its  descent  into 
warmer  regions,  the  water  from  its  surface  is  engulfed, 
as  will  be  described  in  the  next  chapter,  forms  a 
system  of  subglacial  drainage,  and  finally  emerges  in 
a  torrent,  often  large  and  strong,  from  a  rude  portal  or 
cave  (Fig.  9,  p.  151).  The  Rhone,  the  Rhine,  the 
Danube,  the  Po,  and  the  Adige  are  the  ultimate  reci- 
pients of  the  rivers  thus  originated,  and  convey  the 
waters  from  the  snows  of  the  Alps  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean, the  Black  and  the  North  Seas. 


131 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  MAKING  AND   MOVEMENT  OF  GLACIERS 

In  the  Alps  rain  seldom,  if  ever,  falls  above  a  height 
of  about  8,000  feet.  All  moisture  is  precipitated  in 
the  form  of  snow,  ^  of  which  heavy  showers  may  some- 
times occur  even  in  the  middle  of  summer  at  a  much 
lower  level.  After  a  spell  of  bad  weather,  I  have  often 
seen  everything  white  down  to  6,000  feet  or  even 
lower.2  Thus  snow  accumulates  on  the  higher  moun- 
tains, though  it  has  to  pay  tribute  to  the  sunshine. 
When  they  are  flat-topped,  like  the  Alphubel  or  the 
Calotte  of  Mont  Blanc,  it  is  piled  up  to  a  considerable 
thickness ;  where  they  are  sharp  pyramids,  most 
of  it  cannot  rest  for  long.  Here  and  there  a  thin 
layer  may  manage  to  adhere  by  being  frozen  to  some 
face  or  edge,  where  it  can  just  get  a  hold,  but  any 
more  that  falls  slips  off  from  the  surface  of  the 
other  as  a  powdery  avalanche.  But  when  the  inclina- 
tion   is   less   steep,    the    new  material    may  cling   to 

^  Snow  sometimes  falls  in  tiny  six-rayed  stars,  in  which  the 
spicular  crystals  of  frozen  water  are  grouped  in  fern-leaf  patterns, 
but  these  can  only  be  seen  when  the  air  is  still;  commonly  they 
are  broken  up  and  driven  together  to  form  the  irregular  clusters 
with  which  we  are  familiar. 

2  I  have  seen  snow  falling  heavily  on  a  July  night  at  Saas  Grund 
(5,125  feet),  and  next  morning  it  was  lying  on  the  grass  in  large 
clots  less  than  200  feet  above  the  village. 

132 


The   Making  and   Movement  of  Glaciers 

the  old,  and  a  long,  or  perhaps  a  broad,  snow-slope 
may  be  formed  on  the  face  of  the  mountain,  which, 
however,  may  be  forced  to  find  relief  in  the  same 
way  after  an  exceptionally  heavy  fall.  Such  slopes 
often  exist  on  the  faces  of  pyramidal  peaks,  where 
they  may  be  parted  by  rocky  ribs  or  ridges,  or 
may  meet  in  a  snowy  edge.  They  also  exist  at 
the  heads  of  valleys  running  back  nearly  to  the 
crest  of  a  mountain  range.  The  floors  beneath  the 
cliffs  of  these  valleys  are  often  rather  wide  and 
nearly  flat,  on  which  the  snow,  of  course,  readily 
accumulates  to  form  the  upper  snowfields  of  a  glacier. 
We  have  only  to  glance  into  one  of  the  deep  chasms 
by  which  these  are  severed  to  perceive  that  they 
exhibit  a  regular  stratification,  bed  being  piled  upon 
bed,  each  of  which  marks  a  more  or  less  continuous 
deposition.  These  generally  are  not  more  than  three 
or  four  inches  thick,  and  have  apparently  followed  one 
another,  sometimes  rapidly,  sometimes  with  longer 
pauses,  indicated  by  the  presence  of  a  thin  layer  of 
dust.  They  consist  of  frozen  snow  rather  than  of 
true  ice,  which  is  cemented  together — in  the  upper 
part  by  the  re-freezing  of  water  percolating  down- 
wards from  the  melting  surface,  in  the  lower  to  a 
greater  extent  by  the  pressure  of  the  superincumbent 
mass.  The  surface  snow  is  usually  the  purest  white, 
reflecting  the  sunlight  from  the  tiny  facets  of  its 
innumerable  crystals,  but  the  walls  of  the  yawning 
chasm  are  an  exquisite  blue,  which  sometimes,  like  a 
turquoise,  approaches  green.  Over  their  edges  the 
snow  curves  in  great  cornices,  and  occasionally  spans 
them  with  a  fragile  bridge,  fringed  in  many  places 
with  icicles,  which  are  not  seldom  several  feet  in  length. 

133 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

This  part  is  the  nSvd,  or  firn,  of  the  glacier.  Its 
material  is  in  motion,  and  this,  though  very  slow, 
suffices  to  break  the  continuity  with  the  masses  frozen 
to  the  steeper  slopes  above,  so  that  a  crevasse '  opens 
out  between  the  two,  sometimes  both  wide  and  deep. 
The  distance  between  the  walls  enclosing  a  nev6  basin 
usually  becomes  less  as  we  descend,  but  the  slope  of  the 
bed,  at  any  rate  for  a  while,  more  steep.  Thus  not 
only  is  the  rate  of  movement  increased,  as  when  a 
stream  of  water  issues  from  a  lake,  but  the  ice  also  is 
subject  to  pressure  by  passing  through  a  narrower 
channel.  That  changes  its  aspect ;  the  stratification 
seems  to  disappear,  the  material  to  become  more  homo- 
geneous, i.e.y  more  like  ordinary  ice.  But  after  some 
distance  the  glacier  begins  to  exhibit  a  novel  structure, 
to  which  the  name  of  '*  veined  structure"  is  often 
given.  This  consists  of  alternating  bands,  commonly 
less  than  an  inch  in  thickness,  of  two  kinds  of  ice,  the 
one  hard  and  blue,  the  other  more  granular  and  white. 
The  structure  is  developed  in  weathering,  for  the  first 
form  projecting  layers  which  must  be  broken  with  a 
hammer,  while  the  second  are  often  so  disintegrated 
at  the  surface  that  they  can  be  scooped  out  with  the 
fingers.  Both,  of  course,  melt,  though  in  a  different 
way  ;  for  when  the  blue  layers  are  more  or  less  hori- 
zontal, they  are  found  on  examination  to  be  pierced  by 
small  tubes,  varying  in  thickness  from  a  horsehair  to 
about  a  twelfth  of  an  inch,  some  going  quite  through, 
others  only  part  way.     These  I  suppose  to  be  formed 

'  A  chasm,  or  rent,  in  a  glacier  is  called  crevasse  in  French  and 
Schrund'm  German.  Such  a  one  as  is  mentioned  above  is  generally 
designated  a  Bergschrundy  and  is  often  a  rather  serious  obstacle  to 
the  mountain-climber. 


The   Making  and   Movement   of  Glaciers 

by  drops  of  water  working  downwards  from  the  melt- 
ing white  ice  in  the  overlying  bed.  I  have  also  seen 
that  when  the  beds  of  blue  ice  are  in  a  nearly  vertical 
position  (as  is  not  uncommon),  fine  cracks,  generally 
about  wide  enough  to  admit  the  blade  of  a  penknife, 
can  be  traced  at  their  sides  for  some  yards  downwards. 
These  may  be  very  numerous,  and  they  are  sometimes 
enlarged  to  about  an  inch  in  width,  when  they  are 
filled  with  water.  To  the  action  of  this  they  are  prob- 
ably due,  for  that  which  is  produced  by  the  melting  of 
the  white  ice  may  sometimes  freeze  again  in  percolating 
downwards  along  the  blue  layers  and  make  them  crack. 
The  cause  of  this  veined,  or  ribboned,  structure  has 
been  disputed,  but  the  following  facts  are  generally 
admitted.  It  penetrates  the  thickness  of  a  glacier  to 
a  great  depth  ;  it  is  an  integral  part  of  its  normal 
structure,  extending,  on  the  Unteraar  Glacier,  '*from 
its  lower  extremity  up  to  the  region  of  the  firn,  or 
ndvd,  .  .  .  and  the  course  was,  generally  speaking, 
strictly  parallel  with  its  length  " ;  but  near  the  lower 
end  "  the  structure  varies  its  position  in  a  manner 
very  difficult  to  trace  satisfactorily,  these  becoming 
sometimes  nearly  horizontal."  Principal  J.  D.  Forbes  ^ 
considered  this  structure  to  be  analogous  to  the 
fluxional  structure  developed  in  certain  lavas,  more  or 
less  glassy,  by  the  movements  of  a  slightly  differentiated 
mass,  and  a  consequence  of  the  nature  of  glacier  ice, 
which  he  classed  among  the  viscous  substances.  Pro- 
fessor Tyndall,  however,  maintained  this  structure  to 

^  "  Travels  in  the  Alps,"  ch.  xxi.  See  index  in  the  edition  of 
1900  (W.  A.  B.  Coolidge) ;  also  "  Occasional  Papers  on  the  Theory 
of  Glaciers,"  section  xv.,  and  the  remarks  on  pp.  3-9,  from  which 
the  quotations  are  taken. 

135 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

be   due    to    pressure,    and    comparable    with    slaty 
cleavage  in  a  rock,  pointing  out  that  it  was  developed 
after  the  glacier  had  undergone  much  lateral  pressure 
by  being  forced  through  a  narrower  part  of  the  valley 
which  it  was  descending,  and  he .  cited  one  or  two 
instances  where  he  found  it  cutting,  almost  at  right 
angles,  the  stratification  of  the  ndvd.^     This  explana- 
tion appears  to  me  to  present  the  fewer  difficulties, 
but  the  difference  between  these  two  authorities  was, 
perhaps,  less  than  it  seemed,  for  Principal  Forbes  calls 
attention  to  the  analogy  of  the  veined  structure  to 
slaty  cleavage,  which,  however,  at  the  time  when  he 
wrote,  was  vaguely  ascribed  to  ''  crystalline  or  polar 
forces,"  an  explanation  with  which,  as  he  expressly 
states,^  he  was  not  satisfied. 

This  raises  the  question  of  the  cause  of  glacier 
motion,  over  which,  as  it  belongs  to  general  physics 
rather  than  to  the  Alps  in  particular,  and  is  one  not 
less  intricate  than  difficult,  we  must  pass  briefly.  The 
explanations  proposed  fall  into  two  groups,  the  one 
attributing  the  movement  primarily  to  heat,  the  other 
to  gravitation.  Among  the  former,  De  Charpentier 
thought  it  was  caused  by  the  dilatation  of  water  in  capil- 
lary tubes  which  traversed  the  ice  ;  Dr.  Croll  ascribed 
it  to  a  melting  and  subsequent  solidifying  of  the  mole- 
cules of  ice  by  the  passage  of  heat  through  the  mass  ; 
and  Canon  Moseley  to  an  alternate  expansion  and 
contraction  of  the  same  from  changes  of  temperature. 
Each  of  these  explanations  assumes  that  motion  occurs 

'  **  Glaciers  of  the  Alps,"  part  ii.  section  27. 

^  Loc.  cit.^  p.  9.  He  returns  to  the  subject  at  pp.  182  and  255. 
In  slaty  cleavage  also  a  "shearing"  movement  of  the  particles  is 
usual,  if  not  universal. 

136 


The  Making  and   Movement   of  Glaciers 

in    the   direction   of  least  resistance,   and    thus    to  a 
certain    extent  introduces   gravitation ;    but   the    first 
has  been  abandoned  on  the  ground  that  these  capil- 
laries are  non-existent  ;  the  second  requires  a  peculiar 
rhythmic  change,  which  is  most  improbable  ;  and  the 
third,  though  very  ingenious,^  was  supported  by  rather 
inconclusive  experiments.      In   the  other   group,    De 
Saussure  ascribed  the  motion  of  a  glacier  to  a  simple 
sliding  of  the  mass  down  the  slope.     His  idea  was  rather 
vaguely  expressed,  but  he  perceived  that  the  absence 
of  acceleration  distino^uished  the  movement  from  that 
of  a  stone.      Hopkins  met  this  difficulty  by  showing 
that,  if  a  glacier  be  regarded  as  a  collection  of  large 
fragments  rather  than  as  one  mass,  and  the  slope  do 
not  exceed  a  certain  angle,  an   unaccelerated  move- 
ment may  be  produced  by  the  melting  of  the  ice  in 
contact  with  the  underlying  rock.     Forbes  regarded 
glacier  ice  as  a  viscous  substance,  though  much   more 
solid   than    such    things   as    honey.     In    fact,    plastic 
would  have  been  a  better  phrase  than  viscous,  which 
has    a    misleading   connotation.       Tyndall,    however, 
declared  that  ice  too  readily  broke  under  strain  and 
crushed  under  pressure  for  it  to  be  classed  with  any 
substance  truly  plastic,  and  had  recourse  to  Faraday's 
discovery  of  regelation :  viz.,  that  two  pieces  of  ice,  when 
brought  into  contact,  promptly  freeze  together.     Hence, 
the  ice  of  a  glacier  is  constantly  broken  by  strain  ;  the 
fragments,  thus  detached,  slip  downwards,  come  into 
contact  with  those  in  a  lower  position,  and  freeze  to 

^  It  was  suggested  by  the  fact  that  sheets  of  lead  which  had  been 
placed  on  the  roof  of  Bristol  Cathedral  had  broken  loose  from  their 
fastenings  in  consequence  of  expansion  by  day  and  contraction  by 
night,  and  had  moved  downhill. 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

them.  Thus  a  glacier  as  a  whole  "shuffles  down 
hill"  by  movement  of  its  constituent  parts.  But 
Tyndall's  experiments  to  show  that  ice  broke  instead 
of  bending  under  strain  or  stress,  were,  like  those  of 
Moseley,  unsatisfactory,  because,  by  neglecting  the 
element  of  time,  they  failed  to  reproduce  the  conditions 
in  nature.  A  stick  of  sealing-wax  snaps  when  it  is 
quickly  bent,  but  if  placed  in  a  horizontal  position, 
with  one  end  supported,  and  left  to  itself,  it  takes  a 
curved  form.  It  was  accordinorly  demonstrated  by 
the  late  Mr.  W.  Mathews '  that  when  account  was 
taken  of  time,  a  slab  of  ice,  if  its  ends  were  supported, 
also  assumed  a  curved  form.  Of  late  years  the  subject 
has  been  further  investigated,  and  it  is  now  generally 
admitted  that  glacier  ice  is  a  viscous  or,  at  any  rate, 
plastic  substance,  though  the  exact  cause  of  this  pro- 
perty may  not,  as  yet,  be  perfecdy  understood.^  It 
moves,  at  any  rate,  as  a  fluid  rather  than  a  solid  ; 
the  central  part  quicker  than  the  sides,  the  upper  than 
the  lower.  That  was  years  ago  demonstrated  by 
Forbes,  and  confirmed  by  Tyndall  and  others.  The 
rate  of  glacier  motion  in  the  Alps  is,  at  a  very  rough 
average,  nearly  a  foot  a  day.  The  mean  movement 
of  the  Aar  Glacier  is  338  feet  a  year  ;  of  the  Glacier 
du  Bois  364  feet,  of  the  Rhone  Glacier  366  feet.3    But 

*  For  a  lucid,  critical  account  of  the  several  hypotheses  proposed 
and  of  this  experiment,  see  Alpine  Journal^  iv.  pp.  411-27. 

^  Some  very  important  experiments  with  cobbler's  wax,  illustrative 
of  the  movements  in  a  glacier,  are  described  by  W.  J.  Sollas  in  the 
Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society ^  vol.  li.  (1895),  P-  3^^> 
and  vol.  Ixii.  (1906),  p.  716. 

3  J.  Prestwich,  "Geology,"  vol.  ii.  p.  529.  The  great  Greenland 
glaciers  move  much  more  quickly.  Those  producing  bergs  were 
estimated  as  moving  30  to  50  feet  a  day. 

138 


The  Making  and    Movement  of  Glaciers 

they  cannot  bear  much  strain  ;  if  the  end  broadens  on 
level  ground,  it  is  rent  by  radial  cracks  ;  the  retarda- 
tion of  the  sides  produces  another  set  of  crevasses 
oblique  to  the  axis  of  motion ;  while  any  step  or  sudden 
steepening  in  its  bed  so  shatters  it  as  to  produce  an 
ice-fall.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  the  ndvd  the  broken 
masses  tend  to  a  prismatic  shape,  called  seracs,  from 


Fig.  8. — Crevasses  on  a  Glacier. 

the  curd  in  a  particular  kind  of  cheese,  though  the 
name  is  often  extended  to  the  other  forms.  Lower 
down  these  become  more  irregular  wedges  or  pinnacles, 
but  in  any  case  the  ice-fall  is  a  serious,  sometimes  an 
insuperable,  obstacle  to  any  one  attempting  to  travel 
up  a  glacier  (Fig.  8). 

Glaciers  in  the  Alps,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  world, 

139 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

are  agents  of  denudation  and  of  transport.  To  what 
extent  they  effect  the  former  is  a  matter  of  dispute, 
which  can  be  more  conveniently  discussed  in  another 
chapter.  But  on  the  latter  there  is  a  nearer  approach 
to  agreement.  Fragments,  detached  from  neighbour- 
ing peaks  and  cliffs,  come  tumbling  down  till  they  rest 
upon  the  surface  of  the  ice.  The  great  majority  of 
them  accumulate  near  the  edge,  thus  forming  a  stony 
selvedge  to  the  glacier,  the  materials  of  which  range 
from  mere  grit  to  blocks  often  many  cubic  feet  in 
volume.  That  is  called  a  moraine,  and  such  a  one  is 
distinguished  by  the  epithet,  lateral.  One  will  be 
present  on  either  side  of  every  glacier  which  passes 
between  exposed  crags.  But  at  the  junction  of  two 
ice-streams  from  separate  mountain  valleys,  the  right- 
hand  moraine  of  the  one  is  fused  with  the  left-hand 
moraine  of  the  other,  so  as  to  form  a  single  mound  of 
broken  rock,  which  at  a  distance  has  some  resem- 
blance, though,  of  course,  less  regular  in  outline,  to 
a  railway  embankment.  This  is  called  a  medial 
moraine,  and  the  number  of  these  will  obviously  be 
one  less  than  that  of  the  combining  ice-streams. 
These  medial  moraines,  however,  do  not  wholly  con- 
sist of  broken  rock.  The  latter  screens  the  underly- 
ing ice  from  the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  thus  prevents 
it  from  melting  so  rapidly  as  that  on  either  side. 
Thus  the  mound  of  stones  rests  upon  a  second,  though 
a  flatter  mound  of  ice,  and  the  loose  material  may 
be  in  anything  but  stable  equilibrium,  as  the  unwary 
walker  sometimes  finds  to  his  cost.  The  moraine 
retains  this  mound-like  outline  so  long  as  the  glacier 
passes  over  an  even  bed,  but  if  that  suddenly  steepens 
or  is  interrupted  by  rocky  steps,  the  ice  is  rent  by 

140 


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Pi  ^ 

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The   Making  and   Movement  of  Glaciers 

crevasses,  which  swallow  up  part  of  the  material  and 
disperse  the  rest  over  its  surface.  Some  of  this,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  finds  its  way  to  the  bottom  of  the 
glacier,  but  not  a  little  of  it  returns  to  the  light  of  day, 
some  distance  below  the  ice-fall,  though  it  is  now  more 
widely  scattered  over  the  surface  of  the  glacier.  So 
the  broken  rock  travels  downwards,  till  at  last  it  is 
dropped  at  the  end  of  the  glacier,  and  if  that  be 
stationary,  forms  there  another  mound,  called  a  ter- 
minal moraine.  This  commonly  is  more  or  less 
crescent-shaped,  because  the  ice  naturally  assumes 
that  outline,  and  such  a  one  may  often  be  recognised 
in  an  Alpine  valley,  indicating  the  former  presence  of 
a  glacier.  Not  seldom,  however,  three  or  four  ter- 
minal moraines  may  be  seen  within  a  furlong  or  two 
of  that  which  is  still  being  formed,  as,  for  instance, 
between  the  hotel  at  Gletsch  and  the  end  of  the 
Rhone  Glacier.  Thus  terminal  moraines  are  records 
both  of  the  former  presence  and  of  pauses  in  the 
retreat  of  a  glacier,  and,  as  a  rule,  they  become  larger, 
though  sometimes  less  definite  in  shape,  as  their 
distance  increases  from  the  present  end  of  the  ice- 
stream.  Fine  examples  of  old  terminal  moraines  may 
be  seen  in  the  Val  Roseg,  near  Pontresina,  and  other 
Alpine  valleys  too  numerous  to  mention  ;  but  the  most 
remarkable  are  those  left  on  the  lowlands  of  Piedmont 
by  the  ancient  Dora  Baltea  Glacier.  Here,  as  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Ivrea,  a  crescentic  range,  almost  a 
horseshoe  in  plan,  of  flat-topped  hills  rises  to  a  height 
of  perhaps  a  thousand  feet  above  the  plain.  These 
indicate  that  the  ancient  glacier^  must  have  brought 

*   The  ancient  glacier  must  have  been  not  much  less  than  seventy- 
five  miles  in  length. 

141 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

down  an  enormous  quantity  of  debris,  and  have  halted 
in  one  position  for  an  unusually  lon^  time.  The  Dora 
Baltea  moraine,  however,  though  the  most  remark- 
able,' is  by  no  means  a  solitary  instance.  Large 
terminal  moraines  rise  from  the  Italian  lowland  in 
advance  of  each  of  the  great  Alpine  valleys.  On  the 
northern  side  also  the  glaciers  extended  far  beyond 
the  mountains,  that  of  the  Rhone,  as  we  shall  presently 
see,  resting  on  the  flanks  of  the  Jura  and  reaching  to 
the  neighbourhood  of  Lyons.  In  a  similar  way  the 
lateral  moraines  may  form  ridges,  like  railway  em- 
bankments, on  the  side  of  a  valley  from  which  the 
ice  has  retreated,  but  conspicuous  instances  of  these 
are  not  so  common,  probably  because  a  slope  is  less 
favourable  than  level  ground  for  the  accumulation  of 
material,  which  also  may  be  spread  more  uniformly, 
because  the  surface  of  the  ice  sinks  more  slowly  than 
its  end  retreats. 

Very  fine  grit  absorbs  heat  from  the  sun,  and  by 
radiation  melts  the  ice  in  contact  with  it.  Thus  the 
surface  of  a  glacier  is  often  pockmarked  with  small 
holes,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is  a  grain  or  two  of  rock; 
or,  where  dusty  material  covers  a  larger  area,  it  forms 
a  little  basin,  partly  filled  with  water,  at  the  bottom 
of  which  it  lies  like  a  dark  sediment.  But  as  the 
coating  of  debris  thickens,  its  effect  becomes  protec- 
tive instead  of  corrosive  ;  thus  cones  replace  the 
hollows,  and  ribs  of  ice,  as  already  described,  underlie 
the  moraines.  Of  this  process  the  larger  blocks,  if 
separated  from  others,  often  afford  striking  examples, 

^  It  is  said  (J.  Geikie,  "Great  Ice  Age,"  p.  529)  to  have  a  frontage 
of  at  least  fifty  miles  and  to  rise  at  one  place  to  very  nearly  2,000 
feet.     I  think,  however,  this  must  mean  above  sea-level. 

142 


The   Making  and    Movement  of  Glaciers 

especially  when  they  are  tabular  in  form.  Such  a 
one  protects  the  ice  beneath,  so  that  it  becomes  a 
pedestal  as  the  surface  of  the  glacier  sinks.  The 
thickness  of  this,  however,  diminishes  as  its  height 
increases  ;  for  the  stony  parasol  cannot  be  a  complete 
protection,  and  the  surrounding  air  is  often  warm 
enough  to  melt  the  sides.  So  these  glacier  tables  may 
be  sometimes  not  less  than  two  or  three  yards  in 
length  and  breadth,  and  they  often  incline  slightly 
to  the  south,  as  they  receive  most  heat  from  that 
quarter.  At  last  the  stem  no  longer  suffices  to  sup- 
port the  cap-stone,  which  slips  down  to  the  surface  of 
the  glacier  and  recommences  the  process.  A  large 
block,  apparently,  tends  to  become  separate  from  its 
smaller  companions  on  the  ice,  probably  because  it  is 
in  a  less  stable  position  than  they,  and  at  last  is 
stranded  in  solitude,  perhaps  far  beyond  the  present 
limits  of  the  glacier.  Examples  of  such  erratics  or 
*•  perched  blocks  "  may  be  found  in  every  part  of  the 
Alps.  I  For  examples  we  need  not  go  beyond  a 
single  glacier  system,  that  of  the  Rhone.  Three 
great  boulders  of  a  peculiar  kind  of  serpentine  lie  on 
the  bed  of  the  Saas-thal,  slightly  above  the  Mattmark 
See  and  not  far  from  the  end  of  the  Schwarzberg 
Glacier,  on  which  the  largest,  according  to  testimony 
cited  by  De  Charpentier,  was  actually  resting  about 
1 60  years  ago.2  According  to  Mr.  E.  Whymper,  it 
measures  in  feet  86J  x  72f  and  over  65  high.3    In  the 

'  They  occur,  of  course,  in  other  glaciated  regions,  including  our 
own  country. 

2  "  Essai  sur  les  Glaciers"  (1841),  p.  252. 

3  Letter  dated  October  21,  1900.  De  Charpentier  {ut  supra, 
p.  41)  gives  72I  X  6of  X  69  (English  measures).  My  own  measure- 
ments, rather  rough,  were  smaller. 

143 


The    Building  of  the   Alps 

neighbourhood  of  Monthey,  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhone, 
is  another  remarkable  instance,  which  long  ago 
attracted  the  attention  of  geologists.  There  hundreds, 
perhaps  thousands,  of  erratics  were  lying  on  the  slope 
of  Jurassic  rock  at  the  entrance  of  the  Val  d'llliez. 
They  are  crystalline  rock,  for  the  most  part  protogine, 
from  the  eastern  part  of  the  Mont  Blanc  range.  Some 
are  of  great  size — the  largest  of  them,  called  Pierre  des 
Marmettes,  according  to  De  Charpentier,  measures 
63  feet  long,  32  broad,  and  30  high,  so  its  volume  is 
about  60,480  cubic  feet.^  Some  others  vary  from 
20,000  to  50,000  cubic  feet. 2  These  evidently  formed 
part  of  a  scattered  lateral  moraine  of  the  Rhone 
Glacier.  3  Rocks  of  the  same  kind  lie  upon  the  slopes 
of  the  Jura,  indicating  a  terminal  moraine  of  the  same 
glacier.  One  of  these  has  long  been  famous.  The 
Pierre  a  bot — so  called  from  a  fancied  resemblance  to 
a  squatting  toad — lies  in  a  wood  near  Neuchatel, 
rather  more  than  a  mile  in  a  direct  line  from  the  lake, 
and  some  400  feet  above  it.  Its  volume  is  asserted  to 
be  40,000  cubic  feet. 4 

But   we  must   leave   for   the    present    the   ancient 

'  In  English  feet  the  length  would  be  about  67,  the  breadth  34, 
and  the  height  32  feet. 

-  "  Essai  sur  les  Glaciers,"  p.  126.  The  measurements  are 
probably  in  French  feet. 

3  The  number  of  these  has  been  greatly  diminished  since  first  I 
examined  them  in  1859.  My  note  when  last  I  saw  them  (in  1907) 
runs  thus  :  "  I  think  they  have  broken  up  all  the  larger  ones  (exclu- 
ding one  or  two  of  the  very  biggest),  especially  those  of  protogine." 

4  De  Charpentier, /<?<:.  aV.  Thesketchfrom  the  pencil  of  Professor 
J.  D.  Forbes  represents  it  lying  on  nearly  level  ground,  instead  of 
an  irregular  and  rather  sloping  surface.  It  can  hardly  have  travelled 
less  than  seventy  miles.  Murray's  Guide  gives  a  more  moderate 
volume,  with  a  length  of  62  feet  and  a  breadth  of  48  feet. 

144 


•    «  •'.  *  ? 


The  Making  and    Movement   of  Glaciers 

moraines  of  the  Alpine  glaciers  in  order  to  notice  other 
phenomena  in  more  immediate  connection  with  the 
existing  ice-streams.  At  the  foot  of  an  icefall,  as 
already  said,  a  moraine  has  often  largely,  sometimes 
almost  wholly,  disappeared,  having  been  engulfed  in 
the  crevasses.  Presently,  however,  it  can  be  seen 
slowly  emerging,  as  if  the  indigestible  material  were 
disgorged  from  the  maw  of  the  monster.  This  is  no 
doubt  partly  due  to  the  melting  of  the  surface,  but  the 
reappearance  is  sometimes  too  rapid  for  this  explana- 
tion to  be  wholly  satisfactory.  It  suggests  some 
upward  movement  in  the  ice,  like  that  in  water  after 
plunging  over  a  fall.  Theoretical  considerations  for 
a  time  made  this  explanation  doubtful,^  but  they  have 
been  answered  by  Professor  Sollas's  remarkable  ex- 
periments with  poissiers,  or  models  of  glaciers  in 
cobbler's  wax.  These  demonstrate  that  in  a  plastic 
material,  and  such  is  ice,  whatever  may  be  the  phy- 
sical explanation,  movements  of  this  kind  really  exist. 
Hence  much  of  the  swallowed-up  debris  returns  to  the 
surface,  but  some  of  that  which  has  fallen  into  the 
deeper  crevasses,  either  remains  embedded  in  the 
glacier  or  finds  its  way  to  the  bottom.  Therefore 
material  is  transported  either  on,  or  in,  or  beneath  a 
glacier.  In  the  last  case  it  is  augmented  in  another 
way.  The  ice  rubs  the  surface  of  the  underlying 
rock  and  rasps  it  with  the  embedded  grit  and  stones. 
It  is  accordingly  abraded,  worn,  smoothed  and 
striated.  To  what  extent  this  is  done  is  a  ques- 
tion which  must  presently  receive  attention,  but 
that  the  effect  is  considerable  is  generally  admitted. 
The  joint  result  is  the  so-called  ground  moraine, 
^  See  the  Author,  "  Ice  Work,"  p.  184. 

145  K 


The   Building   of  the   Alps 

which  is  defined  as  **  all  the  drift  deposited  beneath 
the  advancing  ice,  and  all  deposited  from  the  base 
of  the  ice  during  its  dissolution."  '  The  stone 
**  scrapers "  also  are  similarly  worn,  and  as  the  ice 
grasps  those  rather  irregular  in  shape  more  firmly 
in  some  positions  than  in  others,  they  are  better 
smoothed  and  striated  in  certain  parts,  and  thus  can 
be  readily  recognised. 

The  surface  of  some  glaciers — for  example,  part  of 
the  Mer  de  Glace  or  of  the  Arolla  Glacier — when  they 
are  looked  at  from  a  little  distance,  exhibit  a  succes- 
sion of  fairly  broad  dirty-looking  bands,  rather  similar 
in  outline,  and  forming  a  series  of  curves  which  point 
downwards.  These  are  called  dirt-bands,  and  indicate 
the  presence  of  more  than  an  average  amount  of  mud 
and  grit.  Their  more  or  less  hyperbolic  form  is  no 
doubt  due  to  the  more  rapid  movement  of  the  middle 
part  of  the  glacier,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  explain  the 
rhythmic  alternation  of  dirty  and  clear  ice.  Professor 
J.  D.  Forbes,  the  first,  we  believe,  to  call  attention  to 
this  phenomenon,  explained  it  by  the  alternation  of 
bands  of  solid  and  more  porous  ice  (the  veined  struc- 
ture), the  latter  of  which  afforded  a  better  lodgment  to 
detritus.  Professor  Tyndall,  however,  maintained  that 
this  explanation  confounded  cause  and  effect,  and  that 
the  occurrence  of  an  icefall  is  a  necessary  antecedent 
to  the  phenomenon.  By  means  of  this  the  glacier  is 
transversely  fractured,  and  after  the  crevasses  have 
been  closed  up,  some  distance  from  the  foot  of  the 
cascade,  ridges  remain,  with  hollows  between  them,  in 
which  the  dirt  gradually  accumulates.  These  ridges 
are  subsequently  "toned  down"  to  gentle  protuber- 

*  Chamberlin  and  Salisbury,  "  Geology,"  vol.  i.  p.  287. 
146 


The   Making   and   Movement  of  Glaciers 

ances,   which  sweep  across  the  glacier,   and  the  dirt 
collects  upon  the  slopes  and  at  the  bases  of  these  pro 
tuberances.     On  the  whole,  this  explanation  seems  to 
be  the  more  probable. 

When  the  ice  has  become  sufficiently  solid  to  pre 
vent  any  appreciable  percolation  of  water,  that  from 
the  melting  surface  gradually  forms  runlets  and  rivu- 
lets, which  unite  into  a  miniature  super-glacial  river 
system.  Its  trunk  stream  may  become  a  few  feet 
in  width  and  inches  in  depth,  but  its  course  is  arrested 
if  a  crevasse  opens  across  its  path.  Plunging  down 
wards,  it  drills  its  way  to  the  bottom  of  the  glacier 
enlarges  the  shaft,  and  works  out  for  itself  a  sub- 
glacial  channel.  But  as  the  glacier,  in  moving  on, 
obtains  relief  from  the  strain,  the  chasm  is  closed. 
The  shaft,  however,  remains,  movmg  downwards 
and  engulfing  the  stream.  This  is  called  a  moulin. 
But  after  a  time  another  rift  may  open  out  near  the 
old  position,  cutting  off  the  stream  and  forming  a  new 
waterfall.  I  have  occasionally  seen  two  or  three  dry 
shafts  travelling  in  advance  of  one  which  is  still  in 
activity.  Stones  not  seldom  fall  down  the  moulin, 
and  are  bounced  about  by  the  cascade,  forming  pot- 
holes similar  to  those  produced  by  a  torrent.  These 
are  called  giant's  kettles  (marmites  de  gdant).  The 
most  remarkable  instances  which,  so  far  as  I  know, 
can  be  seen  in  the  Alps,^  are  at  the  so-called  Glacier 
Garden,  near  the  famous  Lion  monument,  at  Lucerne. 
*'  They  are  about  nine  in  number,  irregularly  dispersed 
over  an  area  of  perhaps  half  an  acre,  the  biggest  being 

^  They  may  be  found  in  the  mountainous  districts  of  our  own 
islands,  and  I  have  seen  some  fine  examples  in  Norway,  especially 
in  the  Otteraa  valley,  near  Christiansand. 

147 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

about  26  feet  wide  and  28  feet  deep.  The  bed  of 
more  than  one  has  assumed  a  spiral  form  ;  thus  show- 
ing that  the  gyratory  movement  of  the  plunging  water 
of  the  cascade  was  constant  in  direction.  These 
*  kettles,'  when  first  discovered,  were  filled  with  debris, 
and  still  contained  the  large  rounded  boulders,  by 
which  they  had  been  mainly  excavated.  The  surface 
of  the  sandstone  (molasse)  between  the  most  con- 
spicuous examples  is  smoothed  and  striated,  but  a 
shelving  craglet  of  rock,  which  in  one  place  interrupts 
the  uniformity  of  this  surface,  indicates  that  the  action 
of  the  ice  has  not  been  continued  long  enough  to 
obliterate  all  previous  inequalities.  The  debris  must 
have  been  deposited  after  the  moulins  had  ceased  to 
act,  and  in  all  probability  during  the  retreat  of  the 
glacier."  ' 

It  will  be  more  convenient  to  describe  the  forms 
produced  by  the  abrasive  action  of  these  gigantic 
ice-rasps  when  we  consider  what  part  they  have 
played  in  the  shaping  of  the  Alpine  peaks  and  the 
excavation  of  their  valleys.  So  it  will  suffice  for  the 
present  to  say  that  they  tend  to  wear  down  ridges  and 
remove  asperities,  that  they  give  to  the  rocks  over 
which  they  have  passed  a  peculiar  rounding  which 
makes  them  like  the  backs  of  sheep,  whence  comes 
their  ordinary  name,  roches  moutonndes,  or,  to  use 
Ruskin's  more  poetic  simile,  their  billowy  hummocks 
are  ''like  the  backs  of  plunging  dolphins."  These  sur- 
faces are  smoothed  and  sometimes  even  polished. 
The  extent  of  the  latter  depends  partly  on  the  nature 
of  the  rock,  limestones  and  other  compact  rocks  like 
serpentines    taking    a   better    polish    than    granites, 

^  The  Author,  "  Ice  Work  "  (1896),  p.  34. 
148 


The   Making  and   Movement   of  Glaciers 

gneisses,  or  schists  ;  but  as  Nature's  ''  putty  powder  " 
is  mixed  with  some  little  grit,  the  surface  is  always 
more  or  less  scratched.  As  a  rule  it  is  in  the  best 
condition  in  places  from  which  the  ice  has  but  recently 
disappeared,  and  many  excellent  specimens  have  been 
exposed  by  the  marked  retreat  of  the  Alpine  glaciers, 
which  began  about  the  year  1863. 

As  already  stated,  the  Alpine  glaciers  were  once 
very  much  larger  than  now.  The  snow-line  was 
much  lower ;  they  occupied  many  valleys  from  which 
they  have  now  entirely  disappeared  ;  they  rose  high 
above  their  beds,  and  extended  far  beyond  their  pre- 
sent limits.  That  subject  is  fully  discussed  by  Pro- 
fessors Penck  and  Bruckner  in  their  book  on  the  Ice 
Age  in  the  Alps,^  a  work  the  value  of  which,  though 
I  cannot  accept  some  of  the  conclusions,  I  gladly 
acknowledge.  They  maintain  that  the  Glacial  Age 
included  four  distinct  epochs  of  cold,  during  each 
of  which  the  temperature  was  considerably  lower 
than  it  is  at  the  present  time,  and  that,  in  the  inter- 
vals between  them,  it  differed  little  from,  perhaps  was 
sometimes  rather  higher  than,  what  it  now  is.  These 
are  the  so-called  Interglacial  Ages.  For  convenience 
of  reference,  Penck  and  Bruckner  have  given  names  to 
each  of  these  glacial  ages,  calling  the  first  the  Gunz, 
the  second  the  Mindel,  the  third  the  Riss,  and  the 
fourth  the  Wiirm  ;  the  temperature  in  the  third  and 
fourth  being  rather  lower  than  in  the  first  and  second, 
and  the  third  slightly  the  coldest  of  all.  They  place 
the  snow-line,  when  the  temperature  was  lowest,  about 
3,900  to  4,300  feet  below  its  present  level,  while 
they  think  it  was  sometimes  a  little  higher  in  the  Inter- 
^  "  Die  Alpen  im  Eiszeitalter  "  (1909). 
149 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

glacial  Ages.  I  But,  of  course,  the  transition  from  the 
one  extreme  to  the  other  would  be  gradual,  so  that 
the  climate  during  the  greater  part  of  the  Glacial  Age 
would  be  colder,  and  sometimes  much  colder,  than  at 
the  present  day.  The  length  of  these  ages  also  was 
not  the  same.  Penck  and  Bruckner  maintain  the  Riss 
ice  age  to  have  been  longer  than  the  Wiirm,  but  the 
Mindel  nearly  equal  to  it,  and  even  the  Giinz  cannot 
have  been  short.  The  Mindel- Riss  Interglacial  was 
much  longer  than  the  Riss-Wiirm,  and  either  than  the 
post-glacial  time.  If  we  take  the  last  as  a  unit,  the 
second  would  be  represented  by  3  and  the  first 
by   12. 

In  these  periods  denudation  was  active.  To  the 
Giinz- Mindel  belong  the  older  deckenschotte7\  or 
plateau  gravels — coarse  deposits  of  rounded  pebbles, 
which,  however,  sometimes  contain  large  boulders, 
such  could  hardly  be  transported  without  being  to 
some  extent  buoyed  up  by  ice  ;  to  the  Mindel- Riss 
belong  the  newer  dec kensc hotter,  gravels  less  tumul- 
tuous in  aspect  and  rather  more  immediately  con- 
nected with  the  present  river  valleys  ;  and  to  the 
Riss-Wiirm  the  older,  well  bedded,  well  rounded 
gravels  in  these  valleys,  but  at  some  height  above  the 
water-level,  i.e.y  the  older  "  terrace  gravels,"  the  newer 
belonging  to  post-glacial  times.  The  authors  have  con- 
structed a  curve  of  temperature,  according  to  which 
the  latter  was  lower  than  now  for  rather  less  than  halt 
of  the  Ice  Age.^  A  difference  in  the  snow-line  of 
4,000  feet  would  correspond  with  a  general  drop  in 

'  The  exact  figures  are  1,200  to  1,300  metres,  vol.  ii.  p.  1168. 
2  The  figures  work  out  to  0*4715  for  the  colder  time  and  0*5285 
for  the  warmer,  or  nearly  as  47  to  53. 

150 


From  a  photo  by\ 


20.    END    OF    PRE    DE   BAR  GLACIER. 


\_Dr.  Tempest  Anderson. 


To  face  p.  150, 


The   Making  and   Movement   of  Glaciers 

temperature  amounting  to  12°  or  perhaps  13°.^  This 
would  very  largely  increase  the  area  of  the  snowfields, 
would  fill  with  tributary  glaciers  hundreds  of  lateral 
valleys  which  now  wear  a  white  mantle  only  in  the 
winter  season,  and  would  consequently  add  greatly  to 
the  volume  of  the  main  ice-streams  ;  and  as  it  would 
bring  down  the  mean  temperature  of  the  lowlands  to 
from  34°  to  T,J^  in  Switzerland  and  to  about  40°  on  the 
Italian  side,  it  might  so  greatly  reduce  the  waste  of 
the  ice  as  to  allow  of  that  great  extension  which  has 
been  already  described. 

^  By  a  different  method  of  approximation  I  estimated  15°  as  the 
least  drop,  but  with  so  much  larger  an  area  of  snow  and  ice  the 
fall  of  the  thermometer  might  be  more  rapid  than  now  (viz.,  about 
1°  per  320  feet).  If  it  were  1°  for  275  feet,  a  lowering  of  4,000  feet 
might  mean  a  drop  in  temperature  of  between  14°  and  15°.  (See  "  Ice 
Work,"  pt.  iii.  ch.  i.) 


Fig.  9. — The  End  of  a  Glacier. 


»5i 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   MAKING   OF  THE   PEAKS    AND   VALLEYS   OF 
THE   ALPS 

The  Alps  have  been  carved,  like  other  mountains,  out 
of  more  extensive  and  continuous  masses  of  rock.  In 
this  process  water  has  been  the  main  agent,  chiefly  as 
rain  and  rivers,  but  to  some  extent  in  its  solid  form. 
Heat  and  frost  have  co-operated,  but  perhaps  more  in 
shaping  the  peaks  than  in  excavating  the  valleys. 
Something  also  must  have  been  due  to  inequality  in 
strength  and  diversity  in  arrangement  of  the  materials. 
The  rivers  have  not  cut  their  downward  way  through 
a  continuous  system  of  uniformly  bedded  rock,  but 
through  masses  twisted,  broken,  variable  in  thickness, 
and  resting  on  foundations  irregular  in  surface  and  in 
outline.  These  also,  during  the  process  of  sculpture, 
were  not  at  rest,  but  in  motion  ;  often  continuously, 
though  at  different  rates,  as  has  been  described  in  an 
earlier  chapter.  It  is  also  probable  that  sometimes  a 
movement  in  one  direction  was  succeeded  by  another, 
though  perhaps  comparatively  slight,  in  the  contrary. 
Thus  the  Alps  afford  a  very  complicated  problem,  and 
the  solution  offered  for  one  part  may  require  consider- 
able modification  before  it  can  be  applied  to  another. 

The  physical  structure  of  the  chain,  as  has  already 
been  pointed  out,  alters  considerably  as  its  course  is 

152 


The    Making  of  the   Peaks  and   Valleys 

traced  from  end  to  end,  and  we  shall  find  in  this  fact 
the  more  convenient  method  of  discussing  its  valley- 
systems  and  their  significance.  As  a  preliminary 
it  may  be  well  to  remind  the  ordinary  reader  of 
the  primary  facts  of  valley  making.  Suppose  an  area 
of  land,  in  outline  an  elongated  ellipse,  in  shape  a  low 
dome,  to  be  rising  slowly  above  the  sea.  No  sooner 
has  it  appeared  than  rain,  not  to  mention  other 
meteoric  agencies,  sets  to  work  upon  it.  The  water 
in  running  off  furrows  the  surface.  At  first  it  follows 
the  line  of  quickest  descent,  and  traces  a  number  of 
channels  radiating  outwards  from  the  centre  of  the 
ellipse,  or  rather  from  its  central  axis.  But  soon 
another  set  of  furrows  will  be  begun.  The  areas 
between  these  channels  will  have  to  be  drained,  and 
the  water  as  it  runs  off  them  will  originate  a  second 
set  of  valleys,  sometimes  almost  at  right  angles  to  the 
former,  which  will  gradually  work  their  way  back- 
wards. But  the  upper  part  of  the  dome  would  pro- 
bably be  planed  away  by  the  sea  before  it  rose  above 
the  waves,  so  the  portion  first  exposed  to  view  would 
consist  of  concentric  rings  of  harder  and  softer  rocks. 
These  would  determine  the  position  of  the  longitudinal 
valleys,  which,  when  once  begun,  would  be  prevented 
by  the  harder  masses  on  either  side  from  straying 
beyond  the  band  of  softer  material.  Again,  since 
streams  flowing  in  opposite  directions,  whether  radially 
or  longitudinally,  may  differ  in  velocity,  and  thus  in 
erosive  power,  cases  of  trespass  may  occur  where  the 
head  of  one  valley  in  a  more  rapid  retreat  cuts  back 
through  the  watershed  into  the  territory  of  another, 
and  even  "  captures  "  some  of  its  tributary  streams. 
Thus   the  central  axis,    or   main    watershed,    of  a 

153 


The   Building  of  the    Alps 

mountain  chain  should  indicate  roughly  the  part  of 
the  region  which  first  rose  above  the  ocean  ;  the 
valleys  at  right  angles  to  it  corresponding  with  the 
former  of  the  two  groups,  which  have  just  been 
mentioned,  and  those  parallel  to  it  with  the  latter. 
Geologists  of  late  have  taken  to  call  the  one  '*  con- 
sequent" and  the  other  ''subsequent"  valleys. 
Formerly  they  were  named  respectively  "  dip  valleys  " 
and  "strike  valleys,"  because  the  one  follows  the 
"dip,"  the  other  the  "strike"  of  the  strata;  and 
though  the  rocks  are  not  always  stratified,  I  prefer 
them  as  expressions  of  simple  facts  rather  than  of 
complicated  ideas,  because  even  the  crystalline  rocks 
in  a  mountain  district  commonly  have  assumed  a 
structure  resembling  bedding,  and  I  should  use  them 
here  were  it  not  that  folds  are  often  so  frequent  that 
though  the  mass,  as  a  whole,  may  be  said  to  plunge 
in  one  direction,  that  can  only  be  learnt  from  the  map, 
and  may  apparently  be  contradicted  by  what  is  seen 
in  passing  over  the  ground.  So  as  this  chapter  deals 
with  the  rocks  on  a  large  scale,  I  shall  prefer  to  call 
the  former  set — those  initiated  by  the  general  dip  of 
the  rocks — transverse  valleys,  and  the  latter — those 
initiated  by  the  strike — longitudinal    valleys. 

Subdivisions,  however,  will  sometimes  be  formed 
in  the  troughs  of  longitudinal  valleys,  and  reversals 
of  drainage  may  occasionally  be  possible.  A  stream, 
after  descending  a  transverse  valley,  may  be  diverted 
along  a  longitudinal  one  into  the  transverse  valley  of  a 
neighbouring  system,  and  thus  leave  the  lower  part 
of  its  own  comparatively  waterless.  The  result  will 
be  that  as  the  portion  of  the  channel  still  occupied  by 
the  active  stream   is  deepened,    the  remainder  of  it 

154 


The   Making  of  the   Peaks  and  Valleys 

IS  gradually  converted  into  an  upland  trough  cutting 
through  the  hills.  In  this,  after  a  time,  another  stream 
will  be  formed,  which  will  make  a  new  and  a  more 
restricted  furrow  in  the  old  channel.  These  facts  then, 
together  with  the  complications  in  rock  structure  to 
which  I  have  already  called  attention,  must  be  borne 
in  mind  when  we  are  attempting  to  ascertain  the 
history  of  the  river  systems  and  consequent  sculpture 
of  the  Alps. 

For  our  present  purpose  we  may  divide  this  chain 
into  three  sections  :  the  western  (or,  more  strictly, 
south-western),  the  central,  and  the  eastern  ;  each 
having  its  special  complications.  These,  in  the  first 
group,  are  due  to  the  presence  of  a  great  fold,  or 
rather  group  of  folds,  parallel,  though  very  roughly, 
with  the  more  eastern  range,  which  is  the  watershed 
of  the  chain.  Its  southern  end  is  limited  by  the 
Mediterranean.  For  its  northern — really  its  north- 
eastern— boundary,  we  may  take  a  line  drawn  up  the 
Rhone  valley  from  the  Lake  of  Geneva  and  prolonged 
nearly  in  the  same  direction  to  the  Italian  plain. 
The  eastern  limit  of  the  central  region  has  a  more 
zigzag  course,  for  it  corresponds  at  first  with  the  crest 
of  the  range,  dividing  the  upper  waters  of  the  Rhine 
and  the  Inn,  then  turns  eastwards  to  separate  the 
drainage  of  the  latter  river  from  that  of  the  Po,  and 
lastly  runs  almost  parallel  with  its  former  course,  along 
an  offshoot,  which  goes  to  the  Italian  plain  between 
the  Val  Telllna  and  the  Val  Camonlca.  To  the  east 
of  this  central  region  comes  the  third  one,  which  has 
a  simpler  structure  than  either  of  the  others,  and  in 
which  the  main  or  longitudinal  valleys  take  a  more  or 
less  eastward  course.     But  in  all  three  regions  any 

155 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

insulated  patch  of  hard  rock  generally  becomes  the 
centre  of  a  little  drainage  system  of  its  own,  the 
streams  of  which  are,  however,  before  long  compelled 
to  become  tributaries  to  one  of  the  great  rivers  of  the 
chain. 

Starting  from  the  Mediterranean,  beyond  the  com- 
plication produced  by  the  inosculation  of  the  Maritime 
Alps  with  the  Apennines,  we  find  that  the  small 
crystalline  massif  of  the  Punta  dell'Argentera,  which 
is  insulated  from  the  main  Cottian  massif  by  a  band 
of  sedimentaries,  sends  a  little  water  from  its  northern 
extremity  down  the  Ubaye  to  the  Rhone,  while  all  the 
drainage  from  its  long  north-eastern  face  flows  to  the 
Po,  and  that  from  the  corresponding  south-western 
one  to  the  Var.  Farther  north  the  river-system  of 
the  Cottian  Alps  is  simple — to  the  Po  on  one  side  ;  to 
the  Rhone  by  way  of  the  Durance  on  the  other.  But 
to  the  west  of  the  last-named  river  complications  are 
introduced  by  the  rise  of  the  compound  folds  of  the 
Dauphine  Alps.  The  watershed  of  the  chief  of  these,  that 
of  which  Les  Ecrins  is  the  culminating  peak,  lies  well 
on  the  eastern  side,  with  the  result  that  comparatively 
little  water  finds  its  way  to  the  Durance ;  most  of  it 
being  collected  by  the  Romanche  and  thus  reaching 
the  Rhone  along  the  channel  of  the  I  sere.  In  so 
doing  it  cuts  completely  through  the  outlying  crystal- 
line folds — those  of  the  Grandes  Rousses  and  the 
Belledonne — showing  that  these  must  have  been 
rather  later  in  date  and  subordinate  in  importance  to 
the  above-named  massif,  but  the  latter  of  the  two, 
though  now  the  less  elevated,  seems  to  be  connected, 
towards  the  north,  with  a  larger  area  of  crystalline 
rock   and   able  to    compel    the    Romanche   to   cross 

156 


The   Making  of  the   Peaks   and  Valleys 

it   by   an   oblique    instead    of   a   directly    transverse 
course. 

Yet  farther  north  the  watershed  of  the  Cottians,  till 
we  approach  the  axis  of  Mont  Blanc,  is  prolonged 
towards  that  point  of  the  compass.  Both  the  Arc  and 
the  Isere  run  off  its  western  slopes,  alternating  between 
transverse  and  longitudinal  courses  among  the  softer 
rocks,  and  cutting,  in  the  former  of  these,  completely 
through  the  northward  prolongation  of  the  Grandes 
Rousses  and  Belledonne  folds,  and  proving  the  folds 
subordinate  to  the  Cottian  range  as  well  as  to  the 
massif  oi  Les  Ecrins.  But  the  towering  mass  of  Mont 
Blanc  introduces  a  complication.  As  already  noticed 
farther  south,  the  folds  parallel  with  its  north-western 
face  are  unable  to  modify  the  drainage  system,  and 
the  water  from  that  face  is  carried  off  to  the  Rhone 
by  transverse  valleys — from  the  more  southern  part  by 
the  Arve,  from  the  other  one  by  the  shorter  course  of 
the  Trient.  Some  of  that  from  the  south-eastern  face 
takes  a  course  parallel  to  the  latter  river  along  one 
arm  of  the  Dranse,  but  the  remainder,  collected  in  a 
narrow  trough  of  sedimentary  rock,  discharges  itself 
into  the  long  valley  of  the  Dora  Baltea  and  thus  finds 
its  way  to  the  Po.  Here,  then,  a  river  has  sawn  its 
backward  way  through  the  proper  watershed  of  the 
chain,  a  singular  fact  which,  I  think,  may  be  due  to 
the  exceptional  elevation  of  the  Mont  Blanc  massif 
in  such  very  close  proximity  to  the  principal  watershed, 
which  also  seems  to  have  been  rather  lower  than 
usual  in  this  part,  as  indeed  it  is  for  some  little  distance 
to  the  south.  Thus  the  two  ranges  may  have  been 
welded  into  one  mass  so  completely  that  there 
may  have  been  alterations  of  the   original  drainage 

157 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

system,  and  the  water  from  the  eastern  side  of  this 
mass,  instead  of  following  the  example  of  the  Arc  and 
the  I  sere,  contrived  to  force  its  way  into  the  pre-exist- 
ing valley  of  the  Dora  Baltea.' 

Across  the  transverse  valley,  followed  by  the  Rhone 
from  Martigny  to  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  we  pass  into 
the  central  district,  where  the  structure  reverts  to  the 
type  generally  characteristic  of  the  other  one.  A  long 
and  slightly  bent  trough  of  softer  rocks,  mostly 
Mesozoic  in  age,  running  parallel  with  the  crest  of  the 
Pennine  and  Lepontine  Alps,  separates  the  crystalline 
mass  of  the  watershed  from  the  long  range  of  the  Ober- 
land.  This  trough  is  continued  over  the  Furka  Pass  to 
form  the  short  upper  reach  of  the  Reuss,  and  then 
over  the  Oberalp  Pass  to  determine  the  course  of  the 
Vorder  Rhein,  as  far  as  Chur,  when  the  united  waters 
of  the  main  river  follow  a  transverse  valley  down  to 
the  Lake  of  Constance.  Thus  the  northern  wall  of 
this  trough,  some  135  miles  in  length  between  the 
outlets  of  the  Rhone  and  the  Rhine,  is  breached  only 
at  one  place,  where  the  Reuss,  after  a  short  course 
within  the  trough,  escapes  through  a  narrow  glen — 
really  a  transverse  valley — down  to  the  Lake  of 
Lucerne. 

The  river  system  of  the  eastern  district  is  unusually 
perplexing  in  its  western  parts,  but  afterwards,  though 
not  without  some  difficulties,  it  becomes  more  simple. 
The  former  includes  the  region,  already  described,^ 
where  the  great  east  and  west  foldings  of  the  Alpine 
chain  are  obviously  affected  by  some  broad  flexures 
trending  from  N.N.E.  to  S.S.W. ;    though  the  latter 

»  Alpine  Journal^  vol.  xiv.  p.  117. 
=*  See  p.  74. 

158 


The   Making  of  the  Peaks  and   Valleys 

do  not  conspicuously  affect  the  marginal  outlines  of  the 
chain.  They  seem,  however,  to  have  produced  certain 
anomalies  in  the  course  of  the  rivers.  For  some 
distance  on  each  side  of  the  Brenner  Pass  the  hydro- 
graphic  structure  is  simple  enough — a  central  crystal- 
line range  forming  the  watershed,  flanked,  north  and 
south,  by  a  range  of  sedimentary  rocks,  through  which 
at  rare  intervals  the  water  finds  an  outlet  after  being 
collected  in  the  longitudinal  troughs.  There  is  no 
conspicuous  uplifting  of  the  northern  zone,  no  squeez- 
ing up  of  its  crystalline  foundations,  as  in  the  Bernese 
Oberland,  no  corresponding  upheaval  of  the  pebble 
beds  and  sandstones,  which  were  formed  by  detritus 
from  the  chain  that  existed  in  Oligocene  and 
Miocene  ages.  I  believe,  in  fact,  that  the  general 
aspect  of  the  latter  is  better  retained  in  this  region 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Alps.  But  with  the 
valley  of  the  Upper  Inn  a  marked,  and  in  some 
respects  unique,  change  takes  place  in  the  hydro- 
graphic  system  of  the  Alps.^  That  river  rises  in  the 
southern  range  and  cuts  through  the  central  one,  thus 
altering  the  position  of  the  watershed  of  Europe.  Not 
only  so,  but  in  its  earlier  days  it  began  its  course,  as 
will  presently  be  explained,  considerably  to  the  south 
of  the  Maloja  Pass,^  and  thus  made,  in  combination 
with  the  feeders  of  the  Oberhalbstein  Rhine,  a  very 
curious  flexure  in  that  watershed.  Nor  is  that  all : 
for  the  head-waters  of  the  Etsch  or  Adige,  which 
carries  southward   no  small  amount  of  the  drainage 

^  The  water  from  the  southern  side  of  the  Mont  Blanc  range,  as 
described  above,  also  cuts  through  the  watershed,  but  in  the  present 
case  the  explanation  there  suggested  does  not  seem  to  be  applicable. 

"^  Probably  between  five  and  six  miles. 

159 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

from  the  crystalline  axis  of  the  Western  Tyrol,  have 
an  even  more  perplexing  relation  to  the  valley  of  the 
Upper  Inn.  At  the  well-known  defile  of  the  Finster- 
miinz  that  river  has  descended  to  a  level  of  about 
3,700  feet  above  the  sea — a  drop  of  some  2,300  feet. 
Here  it  can  be  reached  from  the  head  of  the  Etsch 
valley  by  a  steep  descent  from  a  pass  called  the 
Reschen  Scheideck.  But  this  pass  (4,898  feet)  is  only 
about  1,200  feet  above  the  Inn,  and  instead  of 
going  over  a  well-marked  crest  it  lies  on  a  long  and 
comparatively  level  trough — the  Malser  Heide — 
between  mountains  some  two  or  three  thousand  feet 
above  it.  From  its  highest  point  the  road  declines 
gradually  to  the  village  of  Nauders  (4,468  feet),  and 
then  drops  rapidly  down  to  the  gorge  of  the  Inn.  So 
the  head  of  the  Etsch  valley  must  have  been  truncated, 
as  will  be  more  fully  described  hereafter,  by  a  tributary 
to  the  Inn  ;  but,  as  the  latter  river  is  now  more  than 
fifty  miles  away  from  its  source,  we  cannot  but  be 
surprised  to  find  its  channel  so  near  to  an  important 
feeder  of  a  totally  different  drainage  system.  Here, 
however,  the  Inn  is  running  near  one  edge  of  a  broad 
synclinal — part  of  the  system  of  N.N.E.-S.S.W.  folds 
which  has  been  already  mentioned.  This  certainly 
seems  to  have  helped  in  determining  its  course,  so 
that  perhaps  some  parallel  but  subordinate  anticline 
has  been  just  potent  enough  to  restrict  this  part  of  the 
river  to  a  rather  narrow  channel.  I  offer  this  explan- 
ation with  diffidence,  fully  realising  the  difficulties  of 
the  problem ;  the  more  so,  because,  though  I  have 
been  as  far  as  Nauders,  I  have  not  actually  crossed 
the  Reschen  Scheideck  from  the  Finstermiinz  to 
Meran. 

160 


The   Making  of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

When  the  Inn  has  reached  Landeck  it  bends  sharply 
to  the  right,  and  changes  from  an  oblique  to  a  normal 
course.  It  then  runs  along  a  rather  broad  and  longi- 
tudinal valley  between  the  central  crystalline  and  the 
northern  sedimentary  ranges,  in  which  it  continues 
for  at  least  seventy-five  miles  and  then  cuts,  in  the 
main  transversely,  across  the  latter  range ;  following 
the  example  of  the  Rhone,  Reuss,  and  Rhine.  South 
of  the  chief  watershed  the  Etsch,  already  mentioned, 
and  the  lower  part  of  the  Eisack,  take  courses  which 
are  on  the  whole  oblique,  but  the  upper  part  of  the 
latter  is  really  a  longitudinal  valley,  for  the  Pusterthal, 
as  it  is  called,  lies  between  the  central  crystalline 
range  and  the  southern  one,  well  known  as  the 
'*  Dolomite  "  Alps.  But  after  the  confluence  of  the 
two  rivers  at  Botzen,  the  Etsch,  or  Adige,  though  its 
course  is  nearly  S.S.W.,  really  occupies  a  longi- 
tudinal valley,  because  it  is  following  the  eastern 
edge  of  that  minor  fold  which  has  been  already 
mentioned.  The  head  of  the  Eisack,  like  that  of 
the  Etsch,  exhibits  peculiarities  which  will  presently 
be  noticed,  and  the  longitude  of  Kufstein,  speaking 
in  general  terms,  corresponds  with  a  marked  change 
in  the  direction  of  the  principal  drainage  channels 
of  the  Eastern  Alps. 

East  of  the  Inn,  its  tributary  the  Salza,  and 
the  Enns,  are  the  last  rivers  to  take  a  northward 
course  from  the  corresponding  side  of  the  central 
(crystalline)  axis,  but  on  the  other  one  no  stream  of 
importance,  after  the  Adige,  reaches  the  Adriatic  to 
the  south  of  Venice.  From  the  remainder  of  the 
chain  the  great  rivers  follow  a  more  or  less  easterly 
course.     In    this    direction   the    crystalline    axis    ter- 

l6l  L 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

minates  in  a  wide  fork  ;  one  prong — the  longer  and 
northern — extending  almost  to  the  Neusiedler  Lake ; 
the  other  stopping  short  near  Marburg.  Between 
the  two,  rocks  of  Devonian  age,  overlapped  by  later 
Tertiary,  make  their  appearance  ;  while  south  of  a 
line  joining  that  town  to  Udine,  the  south-south-east 
trend  of  the  strata,  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
Dinaric  Alps,  becomes  very  conspicuous.  Beyond  the 
region  of  the  Enns  no  stream  of  importance  proceeds 
from  the  northern  part  of  the  central  axis  towards  that 
point  of  the  compass.  The  first  great  river,  the  Mur, 
after  taking  for  a  time  a  course  along,  rather  than  by 
the  side  of,  the  northern  fork,'  turns  sharply  south- 
wards, follows  a  transverse  path  to  Gratz,  and  ulti- 
mately joins  the  Drave.  The  latter  river,  to  the  head 
of  which  we  must  presently  refer,  starts  from  the 
southern  slope  of  the  central  axis,  some  distance  west 
of  the  Mur,  and  proceeds  by  a  course  which,  on  the 
whole,  is  probably  radial  rather  than  longitudinal,  to 
Marburg,  where  it  begins  to  get  free  from  the  restric- 
tion of  mountains.  The  Save,  though  an  important 
river,  and  following  a  generally  similar  course,  takes 
its  rise  in  the  southern  zone,  though  near  to  the 
northern  margin  ;  and  of  the  streams  going  direct  to 
the  Adriatic,  east  of  the  Adige,  the  Piave  alone  ""  nearly 
succeeds  in  cutting  back  into  the  longitudinal  valley 
of  the  Pusterthal. 

Such  are  the  relations,  so  far  as  they  can  be  briefly 
described,    of    the    Alpine    valleys    to   the   structural 

^  Of  course  these  valleys  are  really  transverse ;  because,  as  the 
elliptical  area  is  very  elongated,  they  are  following  the  direction  of 
radii. 

*  Strictly  speaking  its  tributary,  the  Boita. 

162  \ 


The   Making  of  the   Peaks   and  Valleys 

features  of  the  rocks  from  which  they  have  been 
carved.  We  have  now  to  discuss  the  agents  by  which 
they,  with  the  mountain  ridges  and  peaks,  have  been 
sculptured.  This  investigation  will  lead  us  into 
controversial  questions,  but  for  the  moment  we  may 
assume,  as  has  already  been  tacitly  done,  that  the 
above-named  features  have  been  shaped,  at  least  to 
a  large  extent,  by  heat  and  frost,  rain  and  rivers  ; 
though  the  late  Professor  Tyndall  maintained  that 
glaciers  were  far  the  most  important  agents  in  the 
excavation  of  Alpine  valleys.  These  are  his  words  : 
*'  That  such  an  agent  was  competent  to  plough  out 
the  Alpine  valleys,  cannot,  I  think,  be  doubted  ;  while 
the  fact  that,  during  the  ages  which  have  elapsed 
since  its  disappearance,  the  ordinary  denuding  action 
of  the  atmosphere  has  been  unable,  in  most  cases, 
to  obliterate  even  the  superficial  traces  of  the  glaciers, 
suggests  the  incompetence  of  that  action  to  produce 
the  same  effect.  That  glaciers  have  been  the  real 
excavators  seems  to  me  far  more  probable  than  the 
supposition  that  they  merely  filled  valleys,  which 
were  previously  formed  by  what  would  undoubtedly 
be  a  weaker  agent.  Or  shall  we  conclude  that  they 
have  been  the  excavators  which  have  furrowed  the 
uplifted  land  with  the  valleys  which  now  intersect 
it?  I  do  not  hesitate  to  accept  the  latter  view.''^ 
As,  however,  this  view  was  at  once  repudiated,  even 
by  those  who  credited  glaciers  with  considerable 
erosive  power,  and  seems  to  ignore  the  existence  of 
peaks  and  valleys  in  regions  altogether  below  the 
snow-line,  we  may  be  content  to  dismiss  it  as  a  result 
of  a  use  of  the  imagination  which  was  the  reverse 
*  Phil.  Mag,.,  1862,  p.  379. 
163 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

of  scientific,  and  will  presently  consider  those  which, 
while  attributing  considerable  potency  to  ice,  are 
much  less  exactino-. 

Peaks,  ridges,  and  valley-slopes  are  but  the  remnants 
of  semi-cylindrical  masses  of  rock,  often  crumpled 
by  minor  folds,  from  which  they  have  been  carved 
in  the  lapse  of  ages  (Fig.  lo).  To  avoid  complications, 
let  us  carry  back  our  thoughts  to  a  time  when  the  mean 
temperature  of  Central  Europe  was  still  too  high  to 
permit  the  formation  of  glaciers.  If  it  were  only 
12°  F.  higher  than  now,  no  glaciers  of  the  slighest 
importance  could  exist  in  the  Alps,  and  permanent 
snowbeds  would  vanish  from  all  summits  but  those 
exceeding  12,000  feet  in  height.  At  the  same  time, 
snow  would  fall  heavily  in  winter  and  linger  late  in 
the  spring  from  about  4,500  feet  upwards.  Thus 
all  streams  that  had  their  birth  among  the  highest 
peaks  would  flow  full  and  strong  for  several  months  in 
the  year,  and  would  not  run  dry  even  in  summer,  as 
happens  now  to  many  of  those  in  the  Apennines. 
The  denuding  effect,  however,  of  running  water  would 
be  less  than  its  present  amount  in  the  higher  valleys 
and  greater  in  the  lower.  A  snowbed — whatever 
may  be  the  case  with  a  glacier — protects  the  rock 
beneath  it,  and  the  water  melted  from  it  ''dribbles" 
rather  than  runs  away,  producing  many  streamlets 
rather  than  one  strong  stream.  The  former  after  a 
time  collect — like  brooklets  on  a  British  moor — but 
by  no  means  speedily.  There  will  then  be  little 
furrowing  and  no  gorge-cutting  in  the  higher  moun- 
tain region.  Here,  I  believe,  denudation  would  be 
greatly  quickened  by  the  formation  of  a  glacier,  and 
in  addition  to  this  the  lowering  of  temperature  would 

164 


The  Making  of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

increase  the  activity  of  destructive  meteoric  agencies, 
which,  however,  would  always  be  considerable  at  such 
an  elevation  during  a  large  part  of  the  year.  To  what- 
ever it  may  be  due,  the  fact  is  certain  that  in  the 
upper  valleys  a  marked  change  in  the  slopes  and 
contours  is  perceptible  at  a  height  varying  from 
something  like  800  to  1,200  feet  above  the  present 
floor.  I  Above  this  we  enter  a  region  where,  for  a 
considerable  distance,  the  mountain  slopes  become, 
as   a   rule,  more   gentle,    the    valleys  wider,   and   (in 


Fig.  10. — Peaks  carved  from  Folded  Rocks 
(Limestone). 

the  absence  of  glaciers)  shallower,  but  they  are  at 
the  same  time  divided  by  more  precipitous  and 
sharper  ridges,  with  jagged  skylines.  A  change,  the 
significance  of  which  we  shall  presently  consider, 
evidently  took  place  in  the  processes  of  denudation, 
and  to  whatever  this  was  due,  we  are  justified  in 
inferring  that,   if  we  imagine  the  lower  trenches  to 

"■  It  is  impossible  to  make  a  precise  statement.  Many  valuable 
facts  bearing  on  this  are  given  by  Penck  and  Briickner  (ut  supra^ 
vol.  ii.). 

i6j 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

be  filled  up,  we  can  form  a  very  rough  idea  of  the 
aspect  of  the  Alps  at  the  end  of  a  period  when  the 
mean  temperature  was  considerably  higher  than  now. 
Here  it  will  be  convenient  to  mention  some  other 
features  of  which  any  explanation  must  take  account. 
Very  commonly  also  the  floor  of  an  important  lateral 
valley,  at  its  junction  with  one  of  the  main  valleys, 
so  far  from  being  at  the  same  level  with  that  of  the 
latter,  terminates  abruptly,  perhaps  1,200  feet  above 
it.  I  have  noticed  this  in  many,  perhaps  I  may  say 
most,  of  the  great  Alpine  valleys,  but  think  it  is 
more  marked  in  those  connected  with  the  central 
range.  The  valley  of  the  Rhone  above  Bex  affords 
frequent  examples,  the  more  striking  occurring  on 
its  left  bank — such  as  the  mouth  of  the  Val  d' Kerens 
above  Sion  and  the  Val  d'Anniviers  above  Sierre. 
Valleys  of  this  type  have  received  the  appropriate 
name  of  Hanging  Valleys.  The  structure  is  less  con- 
spicuous in  the  valley  of  the  Dranse,  as  seen  from 
Martigny,  and  in  the  Turtmannthal,  while  that  of  the 
Visp  appears  at  first  sight  to  be  an  exception. 
Here,  however,  we  find  that  a  well-marked  break  in 
the  level  exists  at  Stalden,  close  to  the  junction  of 
the  glens  leading  to  Zermatt  and  to  Saas. 

With  the  latter  a  second  set  of  hanging  valleys  is 
associated,  such  as  that  in  which  Saas  Fee  nestles, 
or,  on  the  right  bank,  those  leading  respectively  to 
the  Trift  Glacier,  the  Zwischbergen  Pass,  and  the 
Antrona  Pass.  These  upper  hanging  valleys  are  rather 
variable  in  section — being  sometimes,  as  at  Saas  Fee, 
rather  wide  troughs,  more  or  less  flat-bottomed,  or 
like  the  lower  portion  of  a  letter  U  in  section  ;  while 
the  lower  set — of  which  most  of  the  larger  transverse 

166 


The  Making  of  the  Peaks   and  Valleys 

valleys  of  the  central  range  are  examples — keep,  as 
a  rule,  to  the  V  outline.  To  this  fact  we  shall  return. 
In  crossing  one  of  the  Alpine  passes  we  observe 
the  ''divide"  has  one  of  two  forms.  In  some  cases  it 
is  a  narrow  ridge  reached  on  either  side  by  a  fairly 
steep  ascent ;  in  others  a  trough  running  through  the 
range,  so  level  that  occasionally  it  is  no  easy  task  to 
fix  the  position  of  the  watershed.  The  former  is 
common,  though  by  no  means  invariable,  among  the 
glacier  passes  ;  but  since  in  them  the  true  form  of  the 
rock  is  often  concealed  by  a  thick  snowbed,  we  will 
speak  of  those  between  about  6,000  and  8,000  feet, 
more  or  less.  Here,  while  passes  of  the  other  type 
can  be  found,  those  which  are  "  trench  topped  "  are 
the  commoner.  I  The  Maloja  Pass  may  serve  as 
an  example,  for  it  is  one  of  the  most  striking.  *'  The 
valley  of  the  Inn  ascends,  on  the  whole  gradually, 
to  Samaden,  where  the  river  is  joined  by  a  torrent 
which  carries  the  drainage  from  the  northern  part 
of  the  Bernina  group.  But  though  this  brings  the 
greater  volume  of  water,  it  occupies  a  glen  which 
is,  orographically,  of  secondary  importance,  and  the 
main  valley  continues  onwards  in  a  south-westerly 
direction  to  the  Maloja  Pass.  Samaden  is  about  5,600 
feet  above  the  sea ;  from  it  a  rather  steep  but  short 
ascent  brings  us  to  the  level  of  the  St.  Moritzersee, 
the  elevation  of  which  is  about  5,800  feet.  We  have 
now  entered  a  broad  and  almost  level  valley,  enclosed 
between  mountains  which  rise  on  either  side  from 
4,000  to  6,000  feet  above  it,  the  floor  of  which  is 
occupied   to    a    considerable   extent    by   a   group   of 

^  I  am  speaking  throughout  of  passes  that  cross  a  range,  rather 
than  of  those  over  its  spurs. 

167 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

shallow  lakes.  This  trouofh  is  more  than  nine  miles 
long;  yet  the  Silsersee,  at  its  upper  end,  is  only  66  feet 
higher  than  the  St.  Moritzersee  ;  hence  the  fall  is 
only  15  in  10,000,  or,  roughly  speaking,  about  7  feet 
in  a  mile.  The  Maloja  Kulm  is  a  very  short  distance 
from  the  head  of  the  Silsersee  and  only  a  few  feet 
higher  than  it.^  .  .  .  But  no  sooner  have  we  traversed 
this  low  ice-worn  floor  of  rocks  than  the  scene  changes 
in  a  moment.  We  are  standing  on  the  brow  of  a 
series  of  lofty  cliffs  :  the  road  swings  away  to  the 
left  to  seek  a  less  precipitous  part  of  the  enclosing 
head  of  the  valley ;  to  the  floor  of  which — nearly  a 
thousand  feet  below — it  descends  by  a  series  of 
zigzags.  To  what  are  we  to  attribute  this  singular 
configuration :  this  flat,  almost  level  trough,  driven 
right  through  the  crest  of  the  Alps,  and  terminating 
so  abruptly  at  the  brink  of  a  range  of  precipices  ?  .  .  . 
I  believe  that  in  this  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Inn 
we  have  a  true  valley  of  erosion,  comparable,  let  us 
say,  with  the  upper  part  of  the  Val  Roseg,  one  of 
those  steps  which  not  unfrequently  precede  the  final 
ascent  to  the  watershed.  But  I  suppose  that  the 
watershed  in  this  case  once  lay  some  distance  farther 
south  .  .  .  say  somewhere  above  the  site  of  Vico 
Soprano.  From  this  ridge  the  Inn  then  flowed  to- 
wards the  north-east,  while,  on  the  other  side,  the 
Maira  descended  toward  the  south-west."  ^  The 
average  fall  of   this    river   from    the  Kulm    to    Vico 

^  The  height  given  for  the  lake  is  5,872  feet,  for  the  pass  5,942, 
but  I  believe  the  latter  does  not  indicate  the  lowest  point  in  the 
bed  of  the  valley,  and  that  a  very  shallow  cutting  would  suffice  to 
divert  to  the  Adriatic  the  waters  of  the  Silsersee. 

2  The  Author:  Alpine  yournal^  vol.  xiv.  p.  225. 

168 


The  Making  of  the   Peaks  and  Valleys 

Soprano  is  i  in  lo,  and  from  the  latter  place  to 
Chiavenna — some  twelve  miles  farther — is  i  in  24  ; 
while  the  fall  of  the  Inn,  even  between  Samaden 
and  Finstermlinz,  is  rather  less  than  i  in  100.  Besides 
this,  the  rainfall  is  heavier  on  the  Italian  side, 
so  it  is  obvious  that  even  if  the  two  rivers  were 
"started  fair"  the  "streams  of  the  Maira  would 
bite  more  deeply  into  the  dividing  range  than  those 
of  the  Inn.  The  intervening  mountain  mass  was 
quarried  away  far  more  rapidly  on  the  southern  side, 
until  at  last  the  corrie  at  the  head  of  the  Maira  ate 
its  way  back  through  the  dividing  ridge  and  actually 
cut  away  the  slopes  by  which  the  streams  descending 
to  the  Engadine  were  formerly  fed.  Thus  I  regard 
the  floor  of  the  upper  Innthal  as  the  decapitated 
remnant  of  a  very  ancient  valley,  which,  while 
important  changes  have  been  occurring  on  either  side, 
has  remained  comparatively  unchanged,  because 
denudation  must  needs  cease  when  its  motive  forces 
are  gone."  An  examination  of  a  good  map  of  the 
district  confirms  this  explanation.  The  tributary  glens 
of  a  river  system  tend  to  converge  in  the  direction 
of  the  flow,  as,  in  a  tree,  twigs  unite  with  branches 
and  branches  with  the  trunk.  But  the  long  glens 
occupied  by  the  Albigna  and  Forno  Glaciers  run 
due  north,  though  they  drain  into  the  Maira  in  almost 
the  opposite  direction.  *'  Moreover,  the  mouth  of 
the  upland  glen  leading  to  the  Forno  Glacier  is  as 
nearly  as  possible  on  the  level  of  the  Maloja  Kulm  : 
its  floor  is  reached  from  the  latter  by  a  track  which 
keeps  nearly  at  the  same  level,  though  the  torrent 
which  plunges  downwards  to  the  Maira  has  gashed 
the  rock  over  which  it  rushes.     Hence  I  believe  that 

169 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

the  streams  from  the  Forno  and  Albigna  glens 
formerly  flowed  into  the  Innthal,  as  those  from  the 
Fedoz  and  Fex  still  do,  but  that  as  the  corrie  at  the 
head  of  the  Maira  gradually  receded  in  a  north- 
easterly direction,  it  intercepted  and  diverted,  as  its 
floor  was  on  a  lower  level  than  theirs,  first  the  torrent 
from  the  Albigna  glen  and  then  that  from  the  Forno.'* 
It  is,  in  fact,  a  case  of  capture,  to  use  the  phrase 
which  has  become  common  since  the  above  words 
were  written — one  of  the  most  obvious  to  be  found 
in  the  Alps. 

The  Toblacher  plateau,  the  watershed  between  the 
Drave  and  the  Rienz,  a  tributary  to,  and  probably 
once  a  more  important  stream  than  the  Eisack,  also 
affords  an  instance  of  a  removal  of  landmarks,  and  a 
second  one  occurs  in  its  immediate  neighbourhood. 
The  watershed  on  the  former,  though  between  the 
Adriatic  and  the  Black  Sea,  is  curiously  ill-defined. 
It  is  on  "a  flattish,  drift-covered  plain,  barely  4,000 
feet  above  the  sea,  perhaps  a  third  of  a  mile  wide, 
which  is  guarded  on  the  one  side  by  the  crystalline 
schists  of  the  central  range  of  the  Tyrol,  on  the  other 
by  the  magnificent  dolomitic  cliffs  of  the  southern 
range.  On  the  west,  from  Welsburg  to  Niederndorf 
(four  miles)  there  is  a  rise  of  about  260  feet ;  from  the 
latter  place  to  Toblach  (three  miles)  is  a  further  rise  of 
150  feet;  and  from  Toblach  to  Innichen,  on  the  east 
side  (two  miles)  a  descent  of  less  than  100  feet.  Thus 
the  floor  of  the  trough  for  some  five  miles  does  not 
rise  and  fall  much  more  than  about  100  feet,  and 
the  average  slope  is  less  than  i  in  100.  In  the 
next  eight  miles  the  fall  is  only  about  225  feet,  which 
is    still    more   gentle.       But   then    it    becomes    more 

170 


The   Making   of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

rapid  :  the  valley  contracts,  the  floor  descends  more 
sharply,  as  the  river  passes  through  the  Lienzer  Klause, 
a  defile  cut  into  the  crystalline  schists  about  nine 
miles  long.  Lienz  itself,  twenty-eight  miles  from 
Toblach,  is  about  1,750  feet  below  that  place.  ^  .  .  . 
Hence  I  conclude  that  the  original  watershed  must  be 
placed  to  the  east  of  the  Toblacherfeld,  and  that  the 
Drave  has  cut  its  way  back  into  the  upper  part  of 
the  glen  of  the  Rienz."  The  other  instance  is  within 
ten  miles  of  the  highest  point  on  the  Toblach  trough. 
Close  to  this  the  road  to  Cortina  d'Ampezzo  turns 
off  to  the  south  and  soon  enters  a  deep  trench  in 
the  dolomite  mountains,  called  the  Hollensteiner- 
thal.  On  either  side  magnificent  peaks  attain  a  height 
of  between  10,000  and  11,000  feet  above  the  sea. 
From  the  entrance  of  the  glen  the  rise  to  Landro 
by  the  ''shallow  Durrensee,  in  which  the  crags  of 
the  Cristallo  are  mirrored,  is  less  than  600  feet, 
though  the  distance  is  full  six  miles ;  and  for  the 
remaining  six  miles  the  total  ascent  is  hardly  more 
than  250  feet."  ^  The  trough  is  then,  as  at 
the  Maloja  Kulm,  suddenly  interrupted.  From  the 
northern,  or  rather  the  north-western,  side  of  Monte 
Tofana,  a  glen  comes  sweeping  round,  the  floor  of 
which  is  some  hundreds  of  feet  below  the  level  of  the 
pass.  To  this  a  steep  and  narrow  track  was  the  only 
means  of  descent  prior  to  the  construction  of  the 
present  road,  with  its  series  of  zigzags.  "  Here,  then, 
we  have  a  repetition,   though  on  a  smaller  scale,  of 

'  Untervintl,  about  the  same  distance  as  Lienz  on  the  other  side 
of  Toblach,  is  about  300  feet  nearer  the  level  of  the  latter. 

2  That  is  about  870  feet  from  the  Toblach  watershed,  an  average 
slope  of  under  1*5  in  100. 

171 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

the  physical  features  of  the  Maloja  ;  and  here,  also, 
I  can  find  no  other  explanation  of  the  apparent 
anomaly  than  that  the  watershed  once  lay  farther  to 
the  south,  and  that  as  the  main  feeder  of  the  Piave 
deepened  the  valley  between  the  Tofana  and  the 
Cristallo  massif,  it  gradually  cut  away  the  rocky 
wall  which  once  closed  the  glen  to  the  west  of 
Schluderbach."  ' 

But  the  Pennine  range  near  Monte  Rosa  supplies 
us  with  a  more  gigantic,  though  at  first  sight  less 
obvious,  parallel.  *'  Between  the  pyramidal  summit  of 
the  Matterhorn  and  the  massif  ol  the  Breithorn  ^  there 
is  the  marked  depression  crossed  by  the  Theodule 
Pass — a  breach  in  the  rocky  wall,  which  is  some  two 
or  three  thousand  feet  deep.  .  .  .  From  the  Breithorn 
the  rocky  rampart  continues,  practically  unbroken,  in 
a  general  easterly  direction,  as  far  as  Monte  Rosa  ; 
its  peaks  being  well  over  13,000  feet  in  height,  and 
even  the  gaps  between  them  only  about  1,000  feet 
less  elevated.  In  fact,  from  the  Breithorn  to  Monte 
Rosa  the  crest  of  the  range  is  never  less  than  12,700 
feet  above  the  sea."  It  culminates  in  the  vast  ridge 
of  the  latter,  the  highest  peak  of  which  is  15,217  feet 
above  the  sea ;  after  that  the  watershed  between 
Switzerland  and  Italy  runs  north,  and  we  find  another 
gap  similar  to  the  one  just  mentioned,  except  that  here 
a  comparatively  level  snowfield  is  terminated  by  abrupt 
precipices  on  the  eastern  side.  Every  one  who  has 
crossed    by   one   of    the    Weissthor    passes,    or    has 

*  Loc.  cit.^  p.  227. 

'  The  Matterhorn  is  14,781  feet;  the  Breithorn  13,685  feet,  and 
the  Theodule  Pass  10,899  ^6^^>  t)Ut  the  intervening  range  nowhere 
exceeds  11,400  feet. 

172 


The   Making  of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

ascended  the  well-known  snowy  hump  of  the  Cima 
di  Jazzi,  will  remember  the  startling  contrast  between 
the  long  and  gentle  ascent  over  slopes  of  snow 
on  the  western  flank  and  the  precipitous  descent  on 
the  Italian  side.  "  Between  Monte  Rosa  and  the 
Strahlhorn  (13,750  feet)  there  is  a  gap  of  about  three 
miles  wide,  the  flattened  crest  of  which  undulates  a 
little  on  either  side  of  12,000  feet.  Besides  this,  a 
line  of  peaks  only  slightly  subordinate  to  that  of  which 
Monte  Rosa  forms  a  part,  terminates  abruptly  with 
the  Strahlhorn  almost  on  the  watershed  instead  of 
being  prolonged,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  by 
a  spur  on  the  southern  side.  Of  this  apparent 
anomaly  we  have  not  far  to  go  in  order  to  find  an 
explanation.  The  head  of  the  Val  Macugnaga,  which 
is  a  huge  corrie,  has  cut  back  into  the  massif  oi  Monte 
Rosa,  and  is  partly  enclosed  by  its  eastern  spur,  which 
runs  towards  the  Pizzo  Bianco.  The  drainage  from 
this  corrie,  starting  in  a  northerly  direction,  sweeps 
round  toward  the  east,  passing  under  the  great  wall  of 
cliffs,  which,  as  already  mentioned,  descends  from  the 
edge  of  the  snowfield  feeding  the  Corner  and  the 
Findelen  Glaciers,  and  from  that  at  the  head  of 
the  Schwarzberg  Glacier,  east  of  the  Strahlhorn. 
Hence  I  conceive  that  the  Strahlhorn  was  once  part 
of  a  great  spur  thrown  off  from  a  range  which  ex- 
tended in  a  direction  rather  east  of  north  from  Monte 
Rosa,  and  was  elevated  perhaps  a  couple  of  thousand 
feet  above  the  present  edge  of  the  Gorner  snowfield. 
The  Cima  di  Jazzi  might  be  a  remnant  of  another 
spur  from  this  range,'  and  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that 

^  Orographically  this  is  important,  for  it  is  prolonged  due  west, 
beneath  the  snowshed  between  the  Gorner  and  Findelen  Glaciers,  to 

173 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

the  Monte  delle  Loccie,  a  peak  over  12,000  feet  on 
the   eastern  spur  of  Monte   Rosa,   is  almost  exactly 
on  the  line  of  the  Strahlhorn  axis.'     This  range  has 
been  cut  away,  as  the  great  glen  of  Macugnaga  was 
being  deepened  and  enlarged,  devouring  the  mountain 
group  by  which  it  is  fed."     Strange  as  it  may  seem, 
I    believe    that    the    Swiss-Italian    watershed    (if  the 
phrase  be  permitted)  of  this  part  of  the  Pennines  once 
passed  high  in  air  with  an  eastward  curvature  from  the 
Signalkuppe  of  Monte  Rosa  to  the  Strahlhorn,  and 
that  the  Val  Anzasca  has  cut  its  way  back  through 
this,  and  has  even  bitten  off  some  of  the  upper  snows 
of  the  Schwarzberg  Glacier.     An  examination  of  the 
map  suggests  that  the  heads  of  the  Val  Sesia,  Val 
de  Lys,  and  Val  d'Ayas  have  done  the  same,  though 
on  a  comparatively  small  scale,  and  the  gap  between 
the  Breithorn  and  the  Matterhorn  may  be  largely  due 
to  the  simultaneous  recession  of  the  principal  feeder 
to  the  last-named  valley  and  of  the  Val  Tournanche. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten   that   the   lofty  range   con- 
necting   the    Matterhorn    with    the    Dent    d'Herens 
(i3»7^S    ^^^^)   runs   almost   due  west,  and  is  part  of 
the  watershed  of  the  Pennines.    The  map  suggests  that 
one  feeder  of  the  Val  Tournanche  and  the  Val  Pelline 
have  tried  to  be  trespassers,  though  the  latter  has  met 
with   little   success.     It   is  certainly  remarkable   that 
a   great   spur,  which  for  some  distance  hardly  sinks 
below    12,000    feet,   runs   southward  from    the   Dent 

the   Stockhorn   (11,595  feet),  the  Gorner  Grat  (10,289  feet),  and 
the  Riffelhorn  (9,617). 

*  Possibly  the  curious  shelf  or  trough  of  the  Schwarzberg 
Weissthor  (11,851  feet)  is  really  one  half  of  the  old  pass  between 
the  Strahlhorn  and  a  missing  peak. 


The  Making  of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

d'H^rens  between  the  above-named  valleys,  while 
nothing  of  any  importance  proceeds  in  that  direction 
from  the  Matterhorn.  Neither  does  it  anywhere  on 
the  south  side  of  the  watershed  in  this  part  of  the 
Pennines,  while  the  contrary  is  true  of  the  northern. 
Here,  restricting  ourselves  to  the  drainage  system 
of  the  Visp,  where  the  structure  is  a  little  less 
complicated  than  on  either  side,  we  find  the  grim 
Dent  Blanche  (14,318  feet)  rising  due  north  of  the 
Dent  d'Hdrens,  from  a  spur  which  runs  generally  in 
that  direction.  Another  great  spur,  though  now 
completely  isolated  by  the  deep  trench  of  the 
Zmutt  Glacier  (a  very  large  one,  which  has  been  a 
considerable  trespasser  westward),  seems  once  to 
have  been  similarly  connected  with  the  Matterhorn  ; 
for  its  southernmost  peak,  the  Ober-Gabelhorn 
(13,365  feet)  is  almost  due  north  of  the  latter  summit. 
It  is  continued  in  that  direction,  never  sinking 
much  below  12,000  feet,  and  generally  rising  well 
above  this,  till  it  towers  up  in  the  huge  pyramid 
of  the  Weisshorn  (14,804  feet).  Another  great 
spur,  dividing  the  two  arms  of  the  Visp,  extends 
northward  from  the  Strahlhorn,  and  culminates,  east 
of  the  Weisshorn,  in  the  Mischabelhorner,  a  line  of 
closely  linked  peaks,  of  which  the  Dom  attains 
14,942  feet,  thus  being  the  highest  mountain  wholly 
in  Switzerland.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the  Saas-Visp 
is  another  north-running  spur,  which  at  first  sight 
seems  exceptional,  because  its  summits,  which  start 
from  the  watershed  east  of  the  Monte  Moro  Pass 
(itself  only  9,390  feet)  are  at  first  comparatively 
unimportant ;  but  they  begin  to  assert  themselves 
with  the  Portjengrat  (12,005  feet).     After  this  peak 

175 


The  Building  of  the   Alps 

the  crest  sinks  at  the  Zwischbergen  Pass  to  10,657  feet, 
then  culminates  in  the  Weissniies  (13,225  feet)  ;  north 
of  which  come  the  Laquinhorn  and  the  Fletschhorn, 
both  only  little  below  it.  So  we  can  understand  the 
reduced  height  of  the  southern  part  of  the  spur,  when 
we  remember  the  encroachments  of  the  Val  Anzasca, 
and  perceive  that  the  feeders  of  the  Antrona  valley- 
have  been  following  its  example,  though  on  a  much 
humbler  scale. 

But  we  must  return  to  the  trough-like  passes  from 
which  we  have  been  diverted  by  this  question  of 
trespass.  All  the  great  roadw^ays  over  the  main 
chain,  from  the  Mont  Genevre  to  the  Brenner,  show 
this  trough-like  structure  more  or  less  clearly ;  and 
the  descent  on  the  Italian  side  is  the  more  rapid, 
though  less  conspicuously  than  at  the  Maloja.  It 
is  not,  as  a  rule,  so  well  marked  in  those  crossing 
either  one  of  the  great  lateral  ranges  or  from  one 
valley  to  another  parallel  with  the  watershed — as  at 
the  Furka  Pass — for  such  cases  as  the  Gemmi  (a 
mule  track)  are  due  to  trespass.  By  this  principle 
also  we  can  explain  another  very  common  feature — 
that  peaks  often  rise,  not  on  the  watershed  itself,  but 
on  bastions  which  project  slightly  from  it,  generally 
on  the  Italian  side.  Monte  Viso  affords  the  most 
conspicuous  example,  for  instead  of  crowning  the 
watershed  between  France  and  Italy,  which  runs  for 
some  distance  at  a  height  of  from  nine  to  ten  thousand 
feet,  it  is  severed  from  that  by  a  ravine  which  is  pro- 
bably about  a  thousand  feet  in  depth.  Examination 
of  a  map  shows  that  the  apparent  anomaly  of  a  peak 
over  12,600  feet  in  height  in  this  isolated  position  is 
due  to  the  retrogressive  action  of  the  feeders  of  the 

176 


The  Making  of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

Po  on  its  northern  and  of  the  Vraita  (the  more  active) 
on  its  southern  side.^ 

To  return  for  a  moment  to  the  central  part  of  the 
Pennines  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Vispthal. 
Here,  perhaps,  more  than  in  any  other  part  of  the 
Alps,  we  can  realise  both  the  grandeur  of  the  mass 
from  which  their  peaks  and  valleys  have  been  carved 
and  the  vast  amount  of  denudation.  The  Matterhorn 
and  the  Weisshorn  are  but  little  below  15,000  feet  ; 
the  crystalline  rocks  begin  to  rise  from  the  Italian 
plain  at  a  level  of  about  800  feet,  and  from  the  Rhone 
valley  of  about  1,700  feet.  Assuming  that  there  has 
been  no  great  change  of  level  since  those  elevations 
were  attained,  the  Alps  have  been  carved  out  of  a 
great  semicylindrical  2  mass,  the  sagitta  of  which  was 
nearly  three  miles  and  the  chord  well  over  fifty  miles. 

Valleys  have  been  carved  in  this  mass,  the  beds  of 
which,  after  a  course  of  some  six  miles  from  the  water- 
shed (say  15,000  feet),  have  dropped  down  to  about 
5,000  feet  above  sea-level — or  in  other  words,  10,000 
feet  of  rock  must  have  been  carved  away  from  above 
either  Zermatt  or  Saas  Grund.  Of  course  the  original 
form  of  the  surface  may  not  have  been  quite  so  simple 
as  has  been  assumed.  Between  the  Matterhorn- 
Monte  Rosa  and  the  Weisshorn- Mischabel  axes,  both 
mainly  hard  gneisses,  there  is,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Zermatt,  an  infold  of  softer  crystalline  schist,  but 

'  See  the  sketch  map  illustrating  an  article  in  "  Peaks,  Passes,  and 
Glaciers,"  2nd  series,  vol.  ii.  p.  132. 

^  Whether  the  boundary  was  elliptical  or  circular,  we  have  no 
means  of  knowing;  the  peaks  also  may  have  been  reduced  by 
denudation,  but  then  they  may  have  continued  to  rise.  Thus  we 
are  forced  either  to  make  this  assumption,  or  to  give  up  the  problem 
as  hopeless. 

177  M 


The  Building  of  the   Alps 

the  area  which  it  occupies  is  limited  compared  with 
the  others,  and  thus  would  probably  be  a  detail  of 
minor  importance.' 

The  amount  that  has  been  removed  must  greatly 
exceed  that  which  remains,  and  a  large  part  of  this  work 
must  be  attributed  to  rain  and  rivers  rather  than  to 
snow  and  ice.  This  brings  us  to  the  question  of  what 
amount  is  to  be  assigned  to  the  latter,  and  especially 
to  the  erosive  action  of  glaciers.  The  following 
quotation  from  the  lecture  on  which  I  have  already 
drawn  largely  may  serve  as  a  succinct  statement  of 
the  conclusions  to  which  I  have  been  led  by  many 
years'  work  in  the  Alps.  ''  The  present  line  of  the 
watershed  roughly  indicates  the  crest  of  the  Miocene 
Alps,  which  was  probably  in  elevation  not  inferior  to 
that  which  still  remains.  .  .  .  The  process  of  moun- 
tain-making was  not  yet  ended.  In  Pliocene  times 
another  series  of  thrusts,  acting  outward  from  the 
basin  of  the  Italian  plains,  still  occupied  by  the  sea, 
told  with  greatest  effect  upon  the  northern  zone, 
especially  on  the  quadrant  between  the  latitude  of 
Turin  and  the  longitude  of  Ulm,  thrusting  up  parts 
of  the  western  chain,  elevating  the  newly  deposited 
beds  on  the  Alpine  border,  and  puckering  up  the  Jura. 
That  the  process  of  sculpture  was  continued,  until  at 
last,  prior  to  the  great  extension  of  the  glaciers,  the 
Alps  had  arrived  at  very  nearly  their  present  condi- 
tion. .  .  ."2    Inclose  connection  with  this  epoch,  prob- 

^  No  account  is  taken  of  the  sedimentary  rock  removed,  though 
this  must  have  been  considerable,  because  there  is  no  means  of 
estimating  it,  and  a  good  deal  of  that  work  may  possibly  have  been 
done  before  the  dome  emerged  from  the  sea. 

'  Loc.  cit.^  p.  234. 

178 


The  Making  of  the  Peaks   and  Valleys 

ably  in  the  later  part  of  it,  there  were  some  slight 
disturbances  in  the  same  general  direction  as  before, 
so  that  by  a  folding  parallel  with  the  axes  of  the 
ranges  the  beds  of  the  valleys  were  relatively  some- 
what depressed,  and  in  these  minor  folds  the  existing 
larger  lakes  accumulated. 

Till  about  fifteen  years  ago  the  latter  was  the  main 
point  of  dispute  among  geologists  ;  one  party,  at  times 
the  larger,  holding  with  the  late  Sir  A.  Ramsay  that 
practically  all  the  Alpine  lakes,  great  and  small,  were 
results  of  the  erosive  action  of  glaciers  ;  others,  among 
whom  I  was  one,  maintaining  the  view  just  stated,  and 
attributing  only  certain  tarns,  in  peculiarly  favourable 
situations,  to  ice-excavation.  But  now  a  large  number 
of  authorities  maintain  that,  during  the  Ice  Age,  the 
depth  of  the  Alpine  valleys  was  increased  by  about  a 
thousand  feet,  more  or  less  ;  so  that  at  present  the 
main  point  of  dispute  is  whether  the  steep-sided 
trench  already  mentioned  and  (as  some  would  say)  a 
portion  of  the  more  open  part  above,  have  been  added 
to  them  since  the  beginning  of  the  glacial  epoch,  or  are 
in  the  main  anterior  to  it. 

River  denudation  depends  principally  on  the 
strength  and  the  velocity  of  the  streams.  Alter  the 
one  or  the  other,  and  you  alter  the  form  of  the  valleys 
— thus  the  change  from  the  saucer-like  curve  of  the 
upper  parts  to  the  V-like  trench  of  the  lower  would 
indicate  a  more  intense  action  of  the  carving  tools. 
During  four  episodes  in  the  Ice  Age,  as  we  have 
already  said,  the  temperature  fell  considerably  below 
its  present  average,  and  during  the  intervening  three 
reverted  very  nearly  to  it.  In  the  latter,  denudation 
would  proceed  very  much  as  at  the  present  time ;  in 

179 


The   Building   of  the  Alps 

the  former,  it  would  be  either  more  or  less,  and  which 
of  these  can,  perhaps,  best  be  determined  by  con- 
sidering some  hypotheses  of  recent  date  as  to  the 
mode  and  amount  of  sculpture  in  an  Ice  Age. 

Certain  geologists  in  America  and  in  Germany  have 
attributed  to  the  action  of  snow  and  glaciers  the  follow- 
ing features — corries  and  cirques,  the  formation  of 
many  valleys,  the  deepening  and  enlarging  of  others. 
According  to  this  school  of  geologists  a  corrie  or 
cirque  is  thus  produced  :  The  existence  of  an  elevated 
mound-like  tract  of  land,  which  is  just  beginning  to 
rise  above  the  snow-line,  is  assumed  at  the  outset. 
Since  it  has  already  suffered  slightly  from  denudation,^ 
there  are  inequalities  on  its  surface  which  are  favour- 
able to  the  local  accumulation  of  snow.  '*  This,  by 
melting  and  freezing,  would  soften  and  corrode  the 
underlying  material,  which  would  then  be  removed  by 
rain  and  wind,  gravitation  and  avalanches.  In  course 
of  time  the  hollow  thus  formed  would  assume  more 
and  more  the  outlines  of  a  corrie  or  cirque  by  eating 
into  the  hillside.  With  an  increasing  diameter  it 
would  be  occupied,  as  the  temperature  fell,  first  by  a 
permanent  snowfield,  then  by  the  ndvd  of  a  glacier."  ^ 
Two  new  processes  are  now  initiated  to  convert  this 
depression  into  a  regular  corrie  or  a  cirque  ;  these  are 
termed  "  sapping  "  and  ''  plucking."  **  While  ordinary 
glacier  scour  tends,"  as  we  are  told,  to  produce  '*  sweep- 
ing curves,"  and  eventually  a  "graded  slope,"  sapping 
produces  "benches  and  cliffs,"  its  action  being  hori- 
zontal and  backwards  and  often  dominant  over  scour. 

^  I  should  have  thought  it  would  have  been  rather  considerably 
scarred. 

*  President's  Address,  British  Association,  19 lo,  p.  6. 

180 


The  Making  of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

The  author  of  this  hypothesis  ^  convinced  himself  of 
its  truth  by  descending  a  bergschrund  150  feet  deep 
in  the  Sierra  Nevada,  which  opened  out,  as  is  so 
common,  beneath  the  walls  of  a  cirque.  The  chasm 
ultimately  reached  the  rock,  which  for  the  last  30  feet 
formed  one  of  its  walls.  ''It  was  in  all  stages  of  dis- 
placement and  dislodgment,  some  blocks  having  fallen 
to  the  bottom,  others  bridging  the  narrow  chasm,  and 
others  frozen  into  the  n^vL  Clear  ice  had  formed  in 
the  fissures  of  the  cliff;  it  hung  down  in  great  stalac- 
tites, it  had  accumulated  in  stalagmitic  masses  on  the 
floor."  Here,  we  are  told,  there  would  be,  at  any 
rate  for  a  considerable  part  of  the  year,  "  a  daily 
alternation  of  freezing  and  thawing.  Thus  the  cliff 
would  be  rapidly  undermined  and  carried  back  into 
the  mountain  slope,  so  that  before  long  the  glacier 
would  nestle  in  a  shelter  of  its  own  making."  As 
temperature  must  be  uniform  beneath  the  ndv4,  its 
action,  so  far  as  this  kind  of  work  is  concerned,  must 
be  protective ;  but  here  another  agency  begins  to  act 
— that  of  **  plucking."  ''  The  ice  grips,  like  a  forceps, 
any  loose  or  projecting  fragment  in  its  rocky  bed, 
wrenches  that  from  its  place,  and  carries  it  away. 
The  extraction  of  one  tooth  weakens  the  hold  of  its 
neighbours,  and  thus  the  glen  is  deepened  by  plucking 
while  it  is  carried  back  by  sapping.  ...  As  the  cirques 
receded,  only  a  narrow  neck  would  be  left  between 
them,  which  would  ultimately  be  cut  down  into  a  gap 
or  col.  Thus  a  region  of  deep  valleys  with  precipi- 
tous sides  and  heads,  of  sharp  ridges,  and  of  more  or 

'  W.    D.  Johnson,   "Science,"  new   series,   ix.  (1899),  pp.  106, 

112. 

181 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

less  isolated  peaks,  is  substituted  for  a  rather  mono- 
tonous, if  lofty,  highland." ' 

I  believe  these  processes  to  be  largely  imaginary. 2 
The  temperature  in  the  lower  part  of  a  bergschrund 
would  be  comparatively  uniform,  and  the  floors  of 
corries  or  cirques,  of  which  glimpses  may  be  obtained 
in  the  smaller  (they  are  often  masked  by  debris,  which 
of  course  came  after  the  n^vd  had  melted),  show  no 
signs  of  "sapping"  or  *' plucking,"  but  some  little  of 
abrasion  by  moving  ice. 

Cirques  and  corries  also  not  unfrequently  occur  on 
the  sides  as  well  as  at  the  heads  of  valleys  ;  such,  for 
instance,  as  the  two  in  the  massif  oi  the  Uri  Rothstock 
on  the  way  to  the  Surenen  Pass  and  the  Fer  a  Cheval 
above  Sixt.  The  Lago  Ritom  lies  between  the 
mouth  of  a  hanging  valley  and  a  well-defined  step, 
and  just  above  that  is  the  Lago  de  Cadagno  in  a  large, 
steep-walled  corrie,  which  opens  laterally  into  the  Val 
Piora,  as  that  of  the  Lago  di  Tremorgio  does  into  the 
southern  side  of  the  Ticino  valley.  Good  examples 
of  cirques  are  more  abundant  in  the  calcareous  than  in 
the  crystalline  districts,  because,  from  a  variety  of 
causes,  the  former  rock  is  more  favourable  to  their 
formation  than  the  latter,  and  we  find  them  of  all  sizes, 

^  I  believe  this  to  be  a  true  history  of  the  making  of  peaks  and 
valleys,  provided  we  take  water  instead  of  ice  as  the  main  agent,  and 
remember  that  as  a  rule  the  process  would  begin  at  a  very  early  stage 
in  the  mountain  history.  The  advocates  of  the  above-mentioned 
view  admit  the  possibility  of  this,  but  suppose  the  mountain  to  be  a 
kind  of  palimpsest.  Nature  had  effaced  her  earlier  sculpture,  and 
worn  down  the  earher  features,  till  there  was  nothing  more  to  grasp. 
Then  a  change,  either  of  meteorological  conditions  or  of  level, 
enabled  her  to  begin  work  again. 

2  The  Author,  Quart,  Jour.  GeoL  Soc.f  vol.  Iviii.  (1902),  p.  690. 

182 


The   Making  of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

from  a  few  to  many  hundreds  of  feet  in  height,  and 
from  yards  to  furlongs  in  diameter. ^  ''Cirques  may  also 
be  found  when  glaciers  have  had  a  comparatively  brief 
existence,  as  the  Creux  des  Vents  in  the  Jura;  or 
have  never  been  formed,  as,  for  instance,  on  the  slopes 
of  Salina,  one  of  the  Lipari  Islands,  or  in  the  limestone 
desert  of  Lower  Egypt. 
On  all  these  the  same 
agent,  plunging  water,  has 
left  its  marks  —  runlets 
of    rain    for    the    smaller. 


Tv-. 


streams  for  the  larger ; 
convergent  at  first,  per- 
haps by  accident,  after- 
wards inevitably  combined 
as  the  hollow  widened 
and  deepened.  Each  of 
the  great  cirques  is  still 
'a  land  of  streams,'  which 
are  kept  in  action  for 
the  larger  part  of  the 
year  by  beds  of  snow 
on  the  ledges  above  its 
walls."  2 

The  steps  already  men- 
tioned as  existing   in   the 

floors  of  valleys,  though  attributed  to  ''sapping  and 
plucking,"  really  land  advocates  of  the  process,  as 
it  seems  to  me,  in  a  serious  difficulty.  They  are 
supposed  to  indicate  stages  at  which  the  excavating 

^  Many  examples  also  occur  in  the  Pyrenees ;  those  of  Gavarnie 
and  Troumoose  being,  perhaps,  the  most  noted. 
2  Address,  p.  8. 

183 


Fig.  II.— Small  Cirque  near 
Engelberg. 

A    Limestone  cliffs. 

B     Shaly  bank  with  trees,  &c.,  out  of 

which  the  stream  breaks. 
C     Limestone  clifif. 
D    Cirque,  drained  by  a  cascade. 


The  Building  of  the   Alps 

glacier  transferred  its  operations  to  a  higher  level. 
"  But  if  so,  the  outermost  step  must  be  the  oldest, 
or  the  glacier  must  have  been  first  formed  in  the 
lowest  part  of  the  incipient  valley.  Yet  with  a  falling 
temperature  the  reverse  would  happen  ;  for  otherwise 
the  snow  must  act  as  a  protective  mantle  to  the 
*  mature '  pre-glacial  surface  almost  down  to  its  base. 


->w^A 


Jlj     " 


Fig.  12.— Eastern  Cirque  beneath  the  Uri  Rothstock. 

A  =  Clouds  concealing  peaks. 

B  =  Limestone  clift. 

C  =  Shaly  slope  with  small  corries  and  snowbeds. 

D  =  Shaly  cliffs  furrowed  by  streamlets. 

E  =  Limestone  cliffs  slightly  grooved  by  streamlets. 

F  =  Floor  of  cirque  with  talus-heaps  at  side. 


However  much  age  may  have  smoothed  away  youth- 
ful angularities,  it  would  be  strange  if  no  receptacles 
had  been  left  higher  up  to  initiate  the  process,  and 
even  if  sapping  had  only  modified  the  form  of  an  older 
valley,  it  could  not  have  cut  the  steps  unless  it 
had  begun  its  work  on  the  lowest  one.  Thus,  in  the 
case  of  the  Creux  de  Champ,  if  we  hesitate  to  assume 
that  the  sapping  process  began  at  the  mouth  of  the 

184 


The  Making  of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

valley  of  the  Grande  Eau  above  Aigle,  we  must 
suppose  it  to  have  started  somewhere  near  Ormont 
Dessus,  and  to  have  excavated  that  gigantic  hollow, 
the  floor  of  which  lies  full  6,000  feet  below  the 
culminating  crags  of  the  Diablerets."  ' 

It  might,  however,  be  maintained  that  even  if  *'  sap- 
ping and  plucking  "  had  done  but  little  in  the  cutting 
out  of  cirques  and  corries,  the  glaciers  of  the  Ice  Age 
had  greatly  deepened  the  valleys  of  mountain  regions. 
That  view  has  been  advocated  by  Professors  Penck  and 
Bruckner, 2  and  deserves  careful  consideration,  though 
I  should  object  at  the  outset  that  the  physical  con- 
nection of  the  cirques  and  corries  with  the  valleys 
suggests  that  the  making  of  the  one  and  the  other  was 
practically  simultaneous.  But  waiving  that  difficulty, 
though  to  myself  it  seems  insuperable,  let  us  see  how 
the  hypothesis  works  out  in  some  of  the  Alpine  valleys. 
"  On  one  point  all  parties  agree,  that  a  valley  cut  by  a 
fairly  rapid  stream  in  a  durable  rock  is  V-like  in  section. 
With  an  increase  of  speed  the  walls  become  more 
vertical ;  with  a  diminution  the  valley  widens  and  has 
a  flatter  bed,  over  which  the  river,  as  the  base-line  is 
approached,  may  at  last  meander.  Lateral  streams  will 
plough  into  the  slopes,  and  may  be  numerous  enough 
to  convert  them  into  alternating  ridges  and  furrows.  If 
a  valley  has  been  excavated  in  thick  horizontal  beds  of 
rock  varying  in  hardness,  such  as  limestones  and  shales, 
its  sides  exhibit  a  succession  of  terrace  walls  and 
shelving  banks,  while  a  marked  dip  and  other  domi- 

'    Ut  supra,  p.  8. 

^  Die  Alpen  im  Eiszeitalter,  1909,  a  large  book  the  value  of  which 
as  a  storehouse  of  facts  I  gladly  acknowledge,  though  I  cannot 
accept  some  of  its  chief  conclusions. 

»85 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

nant  structures  produce  their  own  modifications.  It  is 
also  agreed  that  a  valley  excavated,  or  greatly  en- 
larged, by  a  glacier  should  be  U-like  in  section." ' 
Granting  that  there  is  clear  evidence  that  the  larger 
Alpine  valleys,  with  many  of  their  tributaries,  have 
been  filled  by  ice  from  very  nearly  the  present  level  of 
their  torrents  up  to  a  height  of  some  couple  of 
thousand  feet  above  them,  let  us  see  what  forms 
dominate  among  them.  It  will  suffice  to  select  one  case 
from  a  crystalline  and  another  from  a  limestone  district, 
out  of  the  many  with  which  my  note-books  are  crow^ded. 
For  the  former  I  select  the  valley  of  Saas,  in  which  I 
have  spent  the  largest  part  of  three  summer  holidays 
during  the  present  century.  Here,  as  already  said, 
there  is  a  marked  change  of  slope,  roughly  corre- 
sponding with  the  lips  of  the  hanging  valleys,  and 
from  about  800  to  1,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
main  torrent.  These  valleys  in  some  cases,  such  as 
the  Fee  glen,  and  perhaps  that  above  the  Trift  Alp, 
are  rather  broad  and  slightly  flat-bottomed,  but  so 
also  are  a  few  comparatively  small  and  shallow  glens 
at  a  rather  higher  level,  in  which  glaciers  do  not  now 
exist,  and  have  not  left  any  marked  traces.  These 
might  be  claimed  as  U-like  in  section  ;  but  we  must  not 
forget  that,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  this  is  the  common 
pattern  in  those  higher  parts  of  the  enclosing  moun- 
tains which  are  not  usually  attributed  to  ice-work,  and 
so  may  be  assigned  to  the  post-glacial  ages  ;  but  other 
valleys,  such  as  those  on  the  right  bank  leading  to  the 
Zwischbergen  and  the  Antrona  Passes,  are  distinctly 
Vs.  In  the  former,  this  shape  is  rather  enhanced  by 
the  great  amount  of  screes  (postglacial) ;  but  rock 
*  Ut  supra,  p.  8. 
186 


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fy. 

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r 

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E 

1 

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t, 

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The   Making  of  the   Peaks  and  Valleys 

projects  from  them  in  so  many  places  that  I  feel  no 
doubt  as  to  its  true  outline.  Those  projections  also, 
while  they  bear  the  marks  of  glacial  abrasion,  show- 
that  it  has  not  obliterated  the  original  features — ridge 
and  furrow — of  subaerial  denudation.  In  the  latter 
valley,  where  there  is  not  so  much  scree,  the  same 
form  is  obvious,  and  the  most  that  could  be  claimed 
for  the  work  of  ice  is  a  slight  blunting  of  the  point  at 
the  bottom  of  the  V.  The  slopes  of  the  sides  in  both 
valleys  exhibit  the  usual  gentler  curves,  like  parts  of  a 
catenary,  above  the  steeper  portions,  and  that  form, 
as  already  said,  is  exhibited  all  down  the  main  valley  ; 
the  lips  of  the  hanging  valleys,  especially  where 
glaciers  still  remain,  being  notched  by  gorges — a  grand 
one,  cut  down  to  the  level  of  the  Visp,  coming  from 
the  Fee  glen  ;  shallower  and  shorter  in  other  cases ; 
while  in  the  main  valley  ice-worn  rock  can  be  seen  in 
many  places,  not  only  high  up  on  its  sides,  but  also 
down  to  within  a  yard  or  two  of  the  torrent. 

"  Thus  valley  after  valley  in  the  Alps  seems  to 
leave  no  escape  from  the  following  dilemma :  Either  a 
valley  cut  by  a  glacier  does  not  differ  in  form  from 
one  made  by  running  water,  or  one  which  has  been 
excavated  by  the  latter,  if  subsequently  occupied,  is 
but  superficially  modified  by  ice.  This,  as  we  can 
repeatedly  see  in  the  higher  Alpine  valleys,  has  not 
succeeded  in  obliterating  the  physical  features  due  to 
the  ordinary  processes  of  erosion.  Even  when  its 
effects  are  most  striking,  as  in  the  Spitallamm  below 
the  Grimsel  Hospice,  it  has  not  wholly  effaced  these 
features  ;  and  whenever  a  glacier  in  retreat  has  exposed 
a  rock  surface,  that  demonstrates  its  inefficiency  as  a 
plough.     The  evidence  of  such  cases  has  been  pro- 

187 


The   Building   of  the  Alps 

nounced  inadmissible,  on  the  ground  that  the  glaciers 
of  the  Alps  have  now  degenerated  into  senile  impotence: 
but  in  valley  beds,  over  which  they  passed  when  in  the 
full  tide  of  their  strength,  the  flanks  show  remnants 
of  rocky  ridges  only  partly  smoothed  away,  and  rough 
rock  exists  on  the  '  lee-sides '  of  ice-worn  mounds 
which  no  imaginary  *  plucking '  can  explain.  The  ice 
seems  to  have  flowed  over  rather  than  plunged  into 
the  obstacles  in  its  path."  ^ 

This  is  true  of  the  limestone  districts  of  the  Alps, 
no  less  than  of  the  crystalline,  though  the  steep 
cliffs  of  the  former  rock  in  such  a  place  as  the  valley 
of  Lauterbrunnen  are  often  quoted  as  proofs  of  the 
trough-making  tendency  of  a  glacier.  But  they  are 
rather  the  outcome  of  the  cliff-making  proclivity  of 
limestone.  The  larger  valleys  of  the  Oberland 
frequently  show  us  a  wall  of  rock  impending  above  the 
valley  floor,  but  presently  it  mounts  along  one  of  the 
lateral  slopes,  without  appreciable  change  in  aspect, 
until  it  runs  out  "  into  the  air  "  far  above  the  highest 
possible  level  of  the  vanished  ice.  Instances  of  this 
are  common  in  most  of  the  valleys  between  the  Dia- 
blerets  and  the  Glarnisch  (to  restrict  myself  to  the 
Swiss  Alps),  but  at  Lauterbrunnen  the  level  is  main- 
tained for  a  rather  orreater  distance  than  is  usual.  The 
vast  wall  of  precipices  which  looks  down  upon  the 
green  slopes  on  either  side  of  Grindelwald  brings  us 
face  to  face  with  more  than  one  grave  difficulty  in  the 
ice-erosion  hypothesis.  The  huge  limestone  fortresses 
of  the  Wetterhorn,  the  Mettenberg,  the  Eiger,  and 
the  Jungfrau  are  separated,  in  the  case  of  the  first, 
second,  and  third,  by  deep  valleys  which,  within  my 
*  Ut  supra^  p.  9. 
188 


*     *  «  *     • 


•  •     «  •   *    <  !•*  *     'A 


The   Making   of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

memory,  were  wholly  occupied  by  glaciers.  ^  These 
have  now  retreated,  laying  bare  a  corresponding 
structure,  but  it  will  suffice  to  describe  that  at  the 
Lower  Glacier.  On  either  side  of  this  the  mountain 
rises  in  a  series  of  limestone  crags,  presenting, 
especially  on  the  right  bank,  a  slightly  *'  stepped  "  out- 
line. The  retreat  of  the  ice  has  exposed  two  steps, 
with  precipitous  faces  and  ice- worn,  gently  sloping, 
treads,  formed  by  slightly  separated  beds  of  limestone. 
These  are  severed  by  a  profound  gorge, ^  cut  by  the 
torrent  from  the  glacier,  which  is  now  made  access- 
ible, and  into  which  the  ice  fits  like  a  wedge.  Steps 
and  edges  are  smoothed  by  the  passage  of  the 
glacier,  but  the  latter  are  only  rounded.^  Granted 
that  the  glacier  is  now  effete,  no  one  can  deny 
that  it  passed  over  these  two  edges  in  the  latest  and 
almost  the  greatest  of  its  advances — the  Wlirm. 
How,  then,  did  it  contrive  to  make  these  steps,  for  to 
do  that  it  must  have  been  able  to  "  cascade "  like 
water  .f^  The  answer  may  be  that  they  were  made  in 
the  Riss-Wiirm  interglacial  age.  That  explanation 
not  only,  as  we  shall  see,  introduces  new  difficulties, 
but  also,  in  my  opinion,  proves  too  much.  The  crags 
of  the  Wetterhorn,  the  Mettenberg,  and  the  Eiger 
rise  almost  vertically  from  the  slopes  of  the  Grindel- 
wald  valley  to  at  least  10,000  feet  above  sea-level. 
Immediately  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Lower  Glacier  a 

^  The  Lower  Grindelwald  Glacier  came  down  to  the  bed  of  the 
main  valley  in  1858.  I  made  a  rough  sketch  of  the  terminal  ice-cave, 
which  I  still  have. 

2  It  cannot  be  less  than  600  feet,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  fix  the  exact 
point  where  the  glacier  ends. 

3  A  sketch,  made  in  1870,  shows  it  resting  like  a  thick,  stiffish  quilt 
against  the  edge  of  the  upper  step. 

189 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

wedge-like  spur  from  the  last  named  mountain  ter- 
minates with  an  acute  gable-end  at  little  below  that 
elevation  and  rises  thence  as  a  limestone  arete  to 
the  summit  (13,040  feet).  From  this  it  descends  in 
a  practically  unbroken  wall  for  something  like  6,000 
feet,  and  even  the  wedge-like  end  of  the  buttress  just 
mentioned  cannot  be  less  than  3,000  feet  above  the 
slopes  of  meadow  and  pine  wood  (at  first  rather  inter- 
rupted by  crags)  which  come  down  from  the  Great  and 
the  Little  Scheideggto  the  bed  of  the  Liitschine  (2,915 
feet).  This  vast  crag  is  so  similar  from  its  top  to  its 
bottom  that  it  must  be  mainly  due  to  one  agent,  and 
water  is  the  only  one  of  which  I  can  discover  any 
trace.  This  great  precipice  shows  three  or  four  very 
shallow  combes  or  recesses — embryonic  cirques — which 
can  only  be  explained  by  the  cutting  back  of  the  cliff 
by  ordinary  weathering  and  dribbles  of  water  from  melt- 
ing snow  on  little  ledges  above.  These  when  collected 
into  a  single  stream,  can  be  traced  by  a  small  furrow 
in  the  slopes  below.  The  latter  are  partly  talus,  but 
are  mainly  due  to  the  outcrop  of  a  softer  shaly  or  slaty 
rock — like  some  of  the  larger  longitudinal  valleys 
already  described.  Thus  the  persistency  of  form  in 
these  great  peaks  makes  it  impossible,  so  far  as  I  can 
see,  to  draw  a  line  below  which  we  can  assign  every- 
thing to  the  excavatory  work  of  glaciers.  Again,  on 
following  the  Liitschine  down  to  the  Zweiliitschinen 
junction,  we  find  the  Ortweidglen  is  a  true  V,  though  it 
once  or  twice  has  a  small  strip  of  nearly  level  land  at 
its  base.  Its  sides  exhibit  crags  and  slopes  alternating 
up  to  their  skyline,  and  there  are  two  distinct  drops  of 
its  bed  in  a  seven  miles'  fall  of  perhaps  2,700  feet,  the 
lower  of  which  must  be  about  500  feet.     Also  below 

190 


The  Making  of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

Zweilutschinen  the  joint  valley — one  arm  of  which  is 
so  open  at  Lauterbrunnen — narrows  for  a  while  and 
becomes  a  true  V,  again  opening  out  before  reaching 
Interlaken.  This  town,  we  must  not  forget,  stands  on 
a  joint  delta  formed  by  the  Liitschine  and  the  Hab- 
kerenthal  streams,  so  that  the  true  floor  of  the  valley 
must  lie  fully  700  feet  beneath  the  almost  level  sur- 
face. I 

It  has,  however,  been  recently  contended  that 
though  these  steps  in  valleys  cannot  have  been  cut  by 
glaciers,  they  were  made  by  streams  from  them  in 
the  interglacial  stages  of  the  Ice  Age,  and  thus  mark 
halting  places  in  their  retreat  or  advance.  I  agree 
with  my  friend  Professor  Garwood,  who  has  recently 
advanced  this  view,^  in  considering  the  action  of  snow 
to  be  generally  conservative  and  glaciers,  though  to 
some  extent  abrasive,  to  be  much  less  effective  than 
running  water,  but  feel  doubtful  whether  the  step  was 
produced  quite  as  he  supposes  :  namely,  that  above  its 
present  edge  the  valley  floor  was  protected  by  neve 
or  glacier,  but  below  it  has  been  exposed  to  denudation 
by  water,  which  was  abundantly  supplied  by  the  melt- 
ing ice,  and  would  acquire  in  process  of  time  more  and 
more  of  a  plunging  action.  Thus  he  regards  those 
V-like  valleys,  a  thousand  feet,  more  or  less,  in  depth, 
together  with  the  associated  steps  and  hanging  valleys, 
as  results  of  water-erosion  during  interglacial  times  ; 
thus  placing  the  preglacial  floors  of  the  Alpine  valleys 
at  the  above-named  height  above  the  existing  torrents. 

^  The  greatest  depth  of  the  Lake  of  Thun  is  702  feet ;  that  of 
Brienz  860  feet. 

^  "  Features  of  Alpine  Scenery  due  to  Glacial  Protection"  {Journal 
of  Royal  Geogr.  Soc^  vol.  xxxvi.  (1910),  p.  310. 

191 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

I  admit  the  difficulty  of  explaining  precisely  how 
these  steps  were  formed,  and  hesitate  to  differ  from 
one  whose  experience  in  the  Alps  and  other  moun- 
tains is  so  great,  but  I  cannot  help  thinking  that 
he  overestimates  the  amount  of  erosion  during  the 
Glacial  Epoch.  The  great  masses  of  conglomerate 
(nagelfluhe)  described  in  Chapter  I.  show  that,  by  the 
beginning  of  Miocene  times,  the  main  Alpine  valleys 
must  have  been  cut  down  nearly  to  their  present 
levels,  unless  we  suppose  the  relation  of  these  newer 
to  the  older  rocks  to  have  been  greatly  altered  during 
the  second  epoch  of  mountain-forming,  a  question  to 
which,  as  it  has  been  already  discussed,  ^  I  need  only 
refer.  But  apart  from  this,  we  may  fairly  say  that 
the  ordinary  estimates  of  geological  time  would  not 
allow  enough  to  accomplish  the  work.  According 
to  the  curve  of  temperature  given  by  Penck  and 
Bruckner,  the  latter  was  higher  than  now  during  rather 
more  than  half  (0*53)  of  the  Ice  Age.  But  this  Age 
only  occupied  about  one-eighth  of  the  whole  time  since 
the  beginning  of  the  Miocene,  so  the  interglacial  ages 
would  cover  about  one-fifteenth,  which,  as  I  have  else- 
where shown,2  seems  hardly  adequate.  If  we  admit 
with  them  that  the  truncation  of  spurs,  and  other 
evidence  in  the  lower  part  of  these  V-like  valleys, 
indicate  the  existence  of  a  water-worn  valley  before 
the  glacier  came  down  it,  then  this  must  have  been 
carved  into  its  present  shape  either  during  the  Riss- 
Wiirm  interglacial  stage  or  by  combined  effort  during 
the  three  stages,  or  was  mainly  preglacial.  But  in 
the  Limmat  valley,  to  take  one  example,  the  Wiirm 
ice-stream  had  hardly  any  disturbing  effect  on  the 
'  Chap.  III.  «  Presid.  Add.,  1910,  p.  12. 

192 


The  Making  of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

masses  of  gravel  deposited  during  the  preceding  inter- 
glacial  stage ;  and,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  there  are  no 
signs  in  those  parts  of  the  lowlands,  over  which  the 
Riss  ice-stream  passed,  that  it  seriously  interfered  with 
the   subjacent    rocks.     But    it    may    be   urged    that 
higher  up  the  valleys  erosion  was  continuous.     If  so, 
it  would  be  more  active  in  the  Linth  valley  ;  yet  the 
rise  from  the  mouth  of  this  to  Glarus,  a  distance  of 
about  seven  miles,  is  hardly  more  than   i8o  feet,  the 
steeper  ascent  not  beginning  till  above  that  town.    The 
Rhine  also,  except  for  the  small  step,  nowhere  exceed- 
ing 60  feet,  at  the  Falls  below  Schaffhausen/  extends 
with  an  unbroken  bed  far  up  in^:o  the  mountain  region. 
On    the   Rhone  the  first  step  is   above    Brieg,    near 
Naters,    where    the    bed    of  the    valley    rises    about 
700   feet.     Professor  Garwood    relies    much   on   the 
three   steps  in  the    Mesocco    valley,   leading   to   the 
Bernardino  Pass.     It  is  no  doubt  difficult  to  explain 
the  mode  of  making   the   uppermost  of   these   rock- 
steps,    which    rises   for    about    800   feet    above    the 
San  Giacomo  plain,  and  is  notched  by  a  stream  on 
either  side,  but    I    cannot    help  feeling   that  his   ex- 
planation seems  a  little  too  ingenious.     It  begins  by 
supposing  this  step  to  be  the  oldest  of  the  three.     The 
retreating    ice   makes   a   long    halt    there,    at   about 
5,300   feet,    during   which    the    numerous    streamlets 
which  it  feeds  set  up  a  plunging  action  so  as  to  cut  out 
a  rather  precipitous  bank,   with  the  plain  below  on 
which   St.    Giacomo    (3,845   feet)  stands.     During  a 
retreat   after  another    advance,    the   ice    halts    lower 
down  the  valley,  at  the  top  of  the  middle  step,  which 
is  about  700  feet  high,  but  is  more  gently  graded  and 
*   We  can  hardly  reckon  the  Lauffenburg  Rapids  as  a  step. 

193  N 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

thus  less  difficult  to  explain  ;  while  the  lowest  step, 
at  Mesocco,  is  only  about  300  feet  and  is  less  remark- 
able, except  for  the  fact  that  the  river  appears  at 
some  time  to  have  deserted  its  original  channel  to 
cut  a  gorge. ^  He  quotes  other  instances,  such  as  the 
step  at  the  head  of  the  Lago  Ritom,  the  one  which 
causes  the  Tosa  Falls,  and  another  in  the  same 
valley  nearer  to  the  Gries  Pass.  In  fact,  they  are 
rather  numerous  in  upper  parts  of  valleys  ;  in  the 
lower  I  think  they  more  often  take  the  form  of 
barriers  such  as  will  presently  be  noticed.  I  agree 
with  my  friend  that  the  existence  of  ice  (and  still  more 
of  snow-beds),  would  be  favourable  to  the  formation 
of  a  step  immediately  beyond  its  margin  ;  in  fact, 
I  am  disposed  often  to  regard  a  rock-step  as  a 
*' straightened-out  "  cirque — that  is,  one  where  many 
small  streams  have  worked  in  parallel  lines  instead  of 
convergently.2  A  step,  I  take  it,  or  a  cirque,  or 
indeed  a  cliff  of  any  kind  high  up  on  a  mountain  side, 
cannot  have  been  left,  as  we  now  see  them,  either  by 
glacier  or  by  river.  They  have  receded,  maintaining 
their  wall-like  aspect,  being  sapped  from  below  by 
the  destruction  of  their  foundations,  as  the  valleys 
were  deepened,  and  cut  back  by  the  joint  action  of 
heat,  frost,  and  water-drip. 

^  The  change  of  channel  prior  to  the  cutting  of  a  gorge  is  a 
common  feature,  as  we  shall  see,  in  rock  barriers. 

2  But  a  double  step,  such  as  those  at  the  Grindelwald  Glacier, 
would  require  us  to  assume  (I  suppose)  that  the  ice  first  cut  a  step 
in  the  position  of  the  lower  one,  but  as  high  as  the  two  together,  then 
retreated  a  furlong  or  so  and  cut  the  upper  one.  But  this  seems 
rather  too  ingenious  an  explanation ;  and  as  the  stream  would  have 
by  that  time  got  into  a  gorge  (as  now),  the  conditions  of  erosion 
would  be  much  as  they  are  at  present. 

194 


•  .   *  »«  *^ 


:•':•. 


>iy:..}''ii..i:h'J 


The  Making  of  the  Peaks  and   Valleys 

I  should,  therefore,  offer  a  rather  different  account 
of  the  forming  of  these  valley  steps.  Suppose  the 
land  to  have  risen  in  a  low,  flattened  arch  above 
the  sea,  as  has  been  already  described.  Transverse 
valleys  begin  to  form.  The  water,  as  it  descends, 
passes  from  a  softer  to  a  harder  bed.  The  stream 
begins  to  jump  and  plunge ;  that  is  the  beginning  of 
a  step,  which  in  process  of  time  will  grow  in  height, 
if  the  bed  be  thick.  As  the  land  rises  the  valley,  now 
well  marked,  will  be  prolonged  downwards,  and  the 
occurrence  of  another  hard  bed  may  repeat  the 
process.  Snow  would,  no  doubt,  be  very  favourable 
to  the  widening  of  a  step.  In  a  comparatively  warm 
climate,  where  it  falls  only  in  occasional  winter 
showers,  which  quickly  disappear,  its  erosive  effect 
is  extremely  small,  for  the  water  merely  soaks  into 
the  ground  ;  but  when  it  lies  thickly  for  two  or  three 
months,  numerous  streamlets  are  formed  in  melting, 
and  that  is  favourable  for  cliff-cutting,  just  as  their 
collected  waters  at  a  lower  level  are  to  valley-furrow- 
ing. These  conditions  would,  no  doubt,  occur  in 
the  interglacial  stages,  but  they  would  set  in  long  before 
the  Ice  Age.  The  temperature  about  the  middle  of 
the  Pliocene  period  was  probably  rather  above  its 
present  average.  If  it  were  6°  higher,  the  snow- 
line would  be  at  10,000  feet,  and  any  glacier  that 
remained  would  be  small ;  but  even  then  snow  would 
lie  at  about  4,000  feet  above  sea-level  for  as  many 
months — probably  three  or  four — as  it  now  does  at 
half  that  elevation  ;  or  in  other  words,  the  zones  of 
cliff-cutting  and  of  valley-furrowing  would  be  moved 
2,000  feet  higher  up  the  mountain  slopes.  But  as 
the  temperature  fell  prior  to  the  first  great  advance  of 

195 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

the  ice,  the  beds  of  the  upper  valleys  would  be  burled 
under  snow  and  nev^  which  have  little  abrasive  or 
erosive  power.  The  water  draining  from  these  would 
be  small  in  amount  ;  the  cutting  power  of  the 
torrents  would  be  reduced.  In  the  mountain  valleys 
of  the  Alps  the  smaller  streams,  during  the  winter,  are 
replaced  by  a  pendent  drapery  of  ice  ;  while  the  main 
torrents — such,  for  instance,  as  the  Reuss  between 
Wasen  and  Goschenen — is  reduced  to  less  than  half 
of  its  summer  volume.  In  the  Ice  Age  the  bare  crags 
— and  of  these  much  would  still  be  exposed — would 
suffer  meteoric  denudation,  but  all  that  was  buried 
beneath  snow  would  be  protected,  until  the  nev6  had 
been  transformed  into  a  glacier.  With  a  temperature 
6^  lower  than  now,  denudation,  except  at  one  groove 
in  the  lip  of  the  glen,  would  be  almost  at  a  standstill 
in  the  lower  parts  of  the  Fee,  the  Almagell,  and  the 
Antrona  valleys,  as  well  as  in  hundreds  of  others  at 
or  above  the  same  level.  Some  authors  have  sug- 
gested that  the  Alps  were  considerably  uplifted  at  or 
near  the  beginning  of  the  Ice  Age.  That  may  have 
happened,  but  as  it  still  remains  to  be  proved,  it 
cannot  serve  as  the  foundation  for  an  hypothesis,  and 
it  is  safer  to  deal  with  things  as  they  are.  We  know 
of  only  one  age  in  which  notable  alterations  of  level 
occurred,  and  this  was  late  in  the  Miocene  or  early  in 
the  Pliocene.^  Those  deep  V-valleys  which  have 
been  already  mentioned  indicate  such  a  one,  so  I 
think  it  more  probable  that  they  are  the  work  of  this 
latter  period  and  thus  mainly  preglacial. 

^  A  vertical  movement,  which  in  some  places  amounted  to 
hardly  less  than  6,000  feet,  must  have  taken  a  long  time,  so  it 
cannot  be  precisely  dated. 

196 


The  Making  of  the  Peaks  and   Valleys 

Barriers,  which  have  some  relation  to  steps  and  are 
occasionally  cited  as  proofs  of  glacial  excavation,  must 
next  be  noticed.  Familiar  examples  are  the  three  in 
the  valley  of  the  Ticino,  between  Airolo  and  Biasca, 
the  Kirchet  in  the  Haslithal,  the  Sottaguda  gorge  in 
the  Dolomites,  and,  on  a  smaller  scale,  the  obstruction 
in  the  Rhone  valley  at  St.  Maurice,  *'  where  a  key  un- 
locks a  kingdom."  In  these  places  the  valley  is 
blocked  by  a  rocky  mound  rising  rather  rapidly  to  a 
considerable  height — perhaps  two  or  three  hundred 
feet — above  its  floor,  through  which  the  river  cuts  its 
way.  Both  above  and  below  it,  this  floor  is  generally 
rather  level  and  wide — perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or 
even  more.  Some  authors  suppose  a  glacier  to  have 
dug  out  basins  on  either  side,  and  then,  either 
because  of  the  greater  hardness  of  the  rock  or  from 
a  tendency  to  a  curvetting  motion,  to  have,  as  it 
were,  clambered  over  this  part.  The  gorge  often 
much  resembles  one  of  those  under  the  end  of  a 
glacier  and  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  it  was  cut  by  a 
torrent  fed  by  melting  ice  ;  but  in  a  fair  number  of 
cases,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  a  curious  feature 
exists,  that  the  chasm  is  not  sawn  in  the  lowest  point 
in  the  ridge. ^  A  glacier  has  passed  over  the  barrier 
— that  is  indisputable — but  whether  it  was  the  maker 
is  another  question.  In  the  Ticino  valley,  the  Stal- 
vedro  gorge,  the  uppermost  and  shortest,  where  the 
drop  is,  perhaps,  200  feet,  cuts  through  a  spur  which 
projects  from  the  left  bank  of  the  valley,  since  it  is 
formed  of  gneiss  harder  than  the  adjacent  schists. 
The   valley   above   cannot   be   called    narrow,    while 

^  I  am  not  sure  about  Sottaguda,  for  it  is  nearly  thirty  years  since 
I  saw  it,  but  can  answer  for  it  in  the  others  which  are  named  above. 

197 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

below  it  expands  and  has  a  comparatively  level  bed 
for  the  next  six  miles.  The  face  of  the  spur  is  fairly 
steep  on  the  western  and  conspicuously  so  on  the 
eastern  side,  and  the  latter  is  well  defined  by  a  grassy 
glen  which  comes  down  to  the  right  bank  of  the  Ticino. 
The  Faido  gorge,  which  is  on  a  much  larger  scale — 
for  it  is  more  than  half  a  league  long  with  a  drop  of 
at  least  500  feet — is  also  formed  by  gneiss,  which  again 
comes  from  the  left  bank  of  the  valley  and  for  a 
long  distance  retains  possession  of  both  sides.  Here 
also  a  well-marked  but  fairly  broad  glen,  taking  on 
the  whole  a  northerly  course,  comes  down  towards 
Rodi-Fiesso,  and  the  gorge  at  its  lower  end  merges 
rather  less  rapidly  than  it  began  into  a  valley  of  more 
ordinary  type,  with  a  high  cliff  on  the  right  bank,  and 
on  the  other  a  lower  and  more  sloping  one.  Below  the 
gorge  the  valley  of  the  Ticino  continues  fairly  open 
for  some  five  miles,  in  places  almost  flat-bottomed.  * 
Below  Lavorgo  a  spur  from  the  right  bank  forms 
a  third  rock  barrier,  severed  by  the  Biaschina  glen, 
through  which  the  Ticino  descends  in  a  series  of  little 
leaps.  The  eastern  face  of  this  barrier  appears  to 
be  determined  by  the  coming  in  of  the  Ticinetto 
valley.  It  is  asserted  that  the  absence  of  windings  and 
the  abundance  of  truncated  spurs  prove  this  part  of  the 
main  valley  to  have  been  excavated  by  ice.  Its  course, 
no  doubt,  is  rather  unusually  straight  above  and 
below  the  Faido  gorge,  but  this  is  due  in  the  one  case 
to  its  following  the  junction  of  two  kinds  of  rock 
which  differ  greatly  in  hardness,  and  in  the  other  to 

^  A  considerable  amount  of  debris,  almost  certainly  post-glacial, 
has  come  down  from  the  left  bank.  The  outline  of  the  solid  rock  is 
probably  a  pointless  V. 

198 


The   Making  of  the  Peaks  and  Valleys 

the  gneiss  being  exceptionally  "slabby"  (the  result 
of  cleavage  foliation),  which  constrains  the  stream  to 
follow  a  rather  straight  course.  But  the  valley  winds 
occasionally,  as  we  can  see  in  ascending  the  path  from 
Airolo  to  the  Val  Piora,  and  from  one  or  two  other 
places  where  a  general  view  is  obtained.  Truncated 
spurs  are  not  in  themselves  proofs  of  ice  erosion.  If 
a  main  torrent  is  more  powerful  than  two  of  its 
tributaries  and  thus  deepens  its  valley  more  rapidly 
than  they  can  do,  it  must  truncate  the  ridge  between 
them,  and  of  that  several  instances  can  be  seen  in 
the  Ticino  valley  between  the  Stalvedro  gorge  and 
Giornico.  Hence,  after  a  recent  careful  examination 
of  the  ground,  with  which  I  was  already  fairly 
familiar,  I  agree  with  Professor  Garwood  ^  in  main- 
taining that  the  lower  part  of  that  valley  does  not 
indicate  the  erosive  effects  of  ice. 

The  gorge  of  the  Aar  cuts  through  a  limestone 
ridge,  and  is  both  shorter  and  narrower  than  those 
of  the  Ticino.  Like  them,  it  has  not  been  sawn 
through  the  lowest  part  of  the  barrier.  In  regard 
to  this  I  endeavoured  to  show,  in  a  paper  published 
in  iSgS,^  that  the  hypothesis  of  glacial  excavation, 
unless  we  assumed  the  possibility,  as  its  advocate 
virtually  did,  of  ''  rotatory  glaciers — whirlpools  of 
ecstatic  ice  "  3 — proved,  on  a  careful  scrutiny  of  the 
ground,  to  introduce  more  difficulties  than  it  ex- 
plained, so  that  I  may  leave  it  and  the  other  instances, 
without  further  notice,  for  the  wider  question  of  the 
erosion  of  lake  basins. 

^  Quart.  Jour.  Geol.  Soc,^  vol.  Iviii.  (1902),  p.  703. 
=  Alpine  Journal.,  vol.  xix.  p.  29. 
3  J.  Ruskin,  Geol.  Mag..,  1865,  p.  50. 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

The  late  Sir  A.  Ramsay,  in  a  paper  published  in 
1862,1  attributed  these  basins,  large  as  well  as  small, 
to  the  excavatory  power  of  glaciers,  and  the  advocates 
of  this  explanation  would  now  probably  command  a 
majority  of  geologists.  His  arguments  may  be  sum- 
marised under  three  heads  :-  (i)  Lakes  are  abundant 
in  glaciated  regions ;  (2)  glaciers  are  potent  exca- 
vators ;  and  (3)  no  agent  but  ice  is  competent  to 
produce  a  lake  basin.  The  first  is  true,  and  I  have 
never  denied  that,  under  favourable  circumstances, 
small  lake  basins — tarns,  like  that  at  the  Grimsel,  or 
in  scores  of  places  in  the  Alpine  region,  with  the  lake- 
lets fairly  numerous  in  our  own  mountainous  districts 
and  more  so  in  Scandinavia — may  have  had  this 
origin,  though,  as  it  seems  to  me,  we  begin  to  find 
serious  difficulties  in  the  Lake  District  of  E norland 
and  the  larger  lakes  in  the  Highlands. 3  Some  tarns, 
also,  may  be  put  aside  at  once  as  formed  Dy  moraines, 
which  have  blocked  the  course  of  a  stream  ;  4  others 
may  be  the  result  of  the  removal  of  a  rock-mass  more 
soluble  than  those  with  which  it  is  associated  ;  5  and 
there  are  others,  such  as  crater  lakes,  which  need  not 
be  considered.  The  main  contention  is  over  the  great 
Alpine  lakes — such  as  Maggiore,  Lugano,  Como,  and 
Garda  on  the  one  side  of  the  chain,  or  Geneva, 
Lucerne,   Thun,     Brienz,    Zurich,    Wallenstadt,    and 

»  Quart.  Journal  Geol.  Soc,  vol.  xviii.  (1862),  p.  185. 
^  Geographical  Journal,  June,  1893. 

3  Presid.  Add.,  Sheffield,  19 10,  p.  9. 

4  J.  E.  Marr,  "  Tarns  of  Lakeland "  {Quart.  Jour.  Geol.  Soc, 
vol.  li.  (1895),  p.  35). 

5  E.  J.  Garwood,  "Tarns  of  Canton  Ticino,"  Id.,  vol,  Ixii.  (1906), 
p.  165.  I  think,  however,  that  in  some  cases  this  explanation  has 
been  carried  rather  too  far. 

2CX> 


The   Making  of  the   Peaks  and  Valleys 

Constance  on  the  other.  As  so  much  has  been 
written  on  this  subject,  a  very  brief  summary  of 
the  objections  to  the  glacial  excavation  theory  may 
suffice.'  They  are  the  following  :  That  no  valid 
proof  has  been  given  that  glaciers,  except  under  very 
special  circumstances,  are  capable  of  excavating  as 
distinguished  from  abrading ;  that  the  form  of  some 
lakes,  such  as  Lucerne  and  Lugano,  and  the  position 
of  others,  such  as  Zug,  are  difficult  to  reconcile  with 
any  such  agency  ;  that  most  of  the  larger  lakes  on 
either  side  are  situated  near  the  border  of  the  chain, 
just  where  the  glaciers  remained  for  the  shortest  time. 
Professor  Garwood  ^  has  recently  ascertained  for  us 
the  subaqueous  configuration  of  certain  of  the  smaller 
lakes ;  Professor  Forel  has  thoroughly  studied  the 
Lake  of  Geneva ;  3  M.  Delebecque  has  sounded  and 
described  in  a  handsome  volume  the  French  Lakes  ;  4 
The  contours  in  many  of  these  are  difficult  to  explain 
on  Sir  A.  Ramsay's  hypothesis,  for  they  resemble, 
both  above  and  below  water,  those  of  ordinary  valleys. 
Moreover,  while  in  bringing  forward  his  own  view  he 
successfully  disposed  of  a  number  of  antecedent  hypo- 
theses, he  did  not  discuss  one  which,  in  my  opinion, 
is  its  most  formidable  rival.  Glaciers  cannot  be 
invoked  for  the  excavation  of  Gennesaret  and  the 
Dead  Sea,  or  of  the  Great  Lakes  of  North 
America,  or  of  those  in  Central  Africa  ;  these  can  only 
have  been  formed  by  differential   movements  in  the 

'  See  Geographical  Journal y  ut  supra.     Quart,  Jour,  Geol.  Soc, 
vols,  xxvii.  p.  312,  xxix.  382,  xxx.  479. 

2  "  Tarns  of  Canton  Ticino,"  ut  supra. 

3  "  Le  Leman,"  vol.  i. 

4  "  Les  Lacs  Frangais,"  1898. 

201 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

beds  of  valleys.  But  the  larger  Alpine  lakes,  from 
the  deeper  part  of  Geneva  to  that  of  Constance  on  the 
one  side  of  the  chain,  and  from  Maggiore  to  Garda 
on  the  other,  could  be  formed  in  this  way,  for  they 
occupy  two  broad  marginal  zones  ;  thus  the  necessary 
movements  would  in  no  case  exceed  1,200  feet  on 
the  northern  and  about  1,500  feet  on  the  southern 
side.  All  that  I  have  seen  since  the  journeys  under- 
taken to  obtain  the  evidence  embodied  in  the  papers 
published  from  1871  to  1874 — and  it  has  not  been  a 
little — has  confirmed  me  in  the  view  then  expressed, 
that  the  work  of  glaciers  is,  as  a  rule,  not  more  than 
abrasive,  and  is  erosive  only  under  special  circum- 
stances. 


Fig.  13.— Block  of  Contorted  Quartz-mica-schist. 

(Quarry  near  Brunecken).  Length  about  i  foot.  The  arrows  point  to 
flat  surfaces  indicating  original  bedding,  and  the  specimen  illustrates  on  a 
small  scale  what  the  mountains  often  ^ow  on  a  very  large  one. 


202 


VIII 

THE  WORK  OF  RAIN  AND  UNDERGROUND  WATER 

Earth-pillars  are  the  most  conspicuous  monuments 
of  what  rain  alone  can  do.  These  are  spire-like 
columns  of  hard  mud,  studded  with  rock-fragments 
and  supporting  a  flattish  capstone.  Usually  occurring 
in  groups,  which  are  sometimes  linear,  they  are  occa- 
sionally isolated,  though  this  can  only  be  when  the 
rest  of  the  mass  of  which  they  were  once  a  part 
has  been  removed.  The  most  noted  instances  are  a 
few  miles  from  Botzen,  on  a  mountain  named  the 
Ritnerhorn,  in  the  upper  part  of  two  of  its  valleys. 
Each  of  these  is  filled  by  a  stiff  clay  containing  many 
stones  and  rock-fragments,  small  and  large.  In  this 
a  stream  has  cut  a  glen,  which  is  fringed  on  either 
side  with  numerous  earth-pillars.  At  the  first  glance 
these  rude  obelisks  seem  **  crowded  like  tombs  in  an 
overful  churchyard,  but  on  a  closer  inspection  a 
method  is  seen  both  in  the  order  and  in  the  shaping 
of  the  pillars.  Now  and  then  one  stands  alone  .  .  . 
but  the  majority  are  connected,  and  many  of  them 
form  ridges  of  clay  crested  with  pinnacles.  Each  is 
usually  capped  by  a  block  of  rock,  like  a  turban  ; 
some,  however,  are  bareheaded.  On  this  block  the 
existence  of  the  earth-pillar  depends  ;  those  which 
have  lost  their  caps  lose,  not  their  heads   only,  but 

203 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

also  their  bodies.  Here  and  there  the  clay-slope  is 
furrowed  by  a  rill,  but  for  the  most  part  the  '  nullahs ' 
between  the  ridges  and  the  gaps  between  the  pillars 
are  perfectly  dry  in  fine  weather."  ^  They  are  made  in 
this  way  :  The  glen  was  formerly  filled  with  a  stony 
clay.  Rills  fed  by  rain  worked  at  Its  surface  and 
seamed  It  with  furrows.  Here  and  there  one  of 
these,  in  deepening  its  bed,  encountered  a  boulder, 
by  which  it  was  presently  divided.  The  current  in 
each  branch  worked  outwards,  thus  tending  to  isolate 
the  stone.  **  Ribs  of  clay  would  be  left  between  the 
rills,  but  as  they  would  be  attacked,  not  only  on  both 
sides,  but  also  from  above,  by  the  rain,  they  would 
gradually  disappear,  and  the  boulders  would  remain 
exalted  on  pinnacles  of  stony  clay.  As  their  sides 
were  exposed  the  rain  would  beat  upon  them  and  do 
something,  in  trickling  downwards,  to  reduce  their 
thickness,  but  the  pillar  for  a  long  time  is  protected 
from  serious  harm  by  the  capstone,  as  by  an  umbrella," 
until  at  last  it  slips  off,  when  the  pinnacle  is  gradually 
reduced  to  a  hump  and  is  then  washed  wholly  away. 
In  the  Alps  these  pillars  seldom  exceed  8  or  9  yards 
in  height,  and  are  generally  well  under  that;  but  in 
some  countries  they  are  considerably  taller.^  Minia- 
ture instances  may  also  be  found  which  are  only  an 
inch  or  two  high,  with  a  capstone  no  broader  than 
a  shilling  or  even  a  threepenny-bit.  Such  as  these, 
where  suitable  material  occurs,  can  be  met  with  in 
other  lands,  including  our  own  ;  but  the  first  to 
catch    my   eye — in    1876 — were   in   the  Val  de   Lys 

'  "  Story  of  Our  Planet,"  pt.  ii.  chap.  ii. 

^  Clarence  King  ("  Mountaineering  in  the  Sierra  Nevada,"  chap,  xii.) 
speaks  of  some  on  Mount  Shasta  from  100  to  700  feet  high. 

204 


Work   of  Rain   and    Underground   Water 

above  Luchon  in  the  Pyrenees.  In  the  Alps  ordinary 
earth-pillars  can  be  seen  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Brenner,  on  the  way  to  the  Eggischhorn  from  Viesch 
(described  by  Sir  C.  Lyell  ^),  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Visp  almost  opposite  to  Stalden,  at  Useigne  in  the 
Val  d'Herens,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Durance,^ 
about  four  miles  south  of  Brian^on.  In  limestone 
districts  the  rain  often  seams  the  rock  surface  with 
innumerable  channels,  hardly  larger  than  the  gutters 
of  a  house-roof,  and  disappears  down  drain-pipes 
of  its  own  making.  Instances  of  these  may  be  seen 
on  the  way  to  the  Gemmi  Pass,  near  the  Dauben  See 
(the  water  of  which  escapes  down  two  or  three  of  these 
vertical  funnels),  in  the  Dachstein  region,  and  in  many 
parts  of  the  Styrian  Alps  ;  but  probably  none  is  more 
'*  remarkable  for  its  extent  and  the  absolute  nudity  of 
the  surface  "  3  than  the  Steinerne  Meer.  This  is  a 
limestone  plateau,  rather  more  than  7,000  feet  above 
sea-level,  some  five  miles  in  length  and  in  most  parts 
not  less  than  two  miles  in  breadth.  The  rock  is 
weathered  into  innumerable  holes,  as  if  it  had  been 
once  pierced  by  the  roots  of  trees  ;  it  is  furrowed  by 
channels,  which  generally  end  in  funnels,  seldom  more 
than  a  few  inches  in  diameter.  We  passed  only  one 
or  two  down  which  a  man  could  have  fallen.  Here 
and  there  was  a  streak  of  herbage,  but  generally  only 
a  few  Alpine  plants  or  a  stunted,  weather-beaten  pine 
contrived  to  grow  ;  for  the  most  part  it  is  a  barren 

^  "  Principles  of  Geology,"  vol.  i.  p.  336  (nth  edition). 

^  Described  and  figured  by  E.  Whymper,  "Scrambles  Amongst 
the  Alps,"  p.  431.  These  appear  to  have  been  carved  from  a 
moraine.  All  but  one  were  without  capstones,  and  some  were 
quite  20  yards  high. 

3  J.  Ball,  "  Alpine  Guide  :  Eastern  Alps,"  p.  88. 

205 


The   Building  ot  the   Alps 

waste.  The  water,  of  course,  works  its  way  under- 
ground, making  tunnels  and  caves.  The  former  have 
often  been  intersected  by  glens,  and  may  be  seen  in 
the  cliffs.  I  noticed  some  interesting  cases  in  the 
district  round  the  Dachstein,  where  the  water  had 
cut  down  through  strata  some  of  which  had  yielded 
more  easily  than  others,  so  the  section  of  its  channel 
took  the  form  of  a  prolonged  dumb-bell.  But  when 
its  downward  progress  is  checked  by  coming  upon  a 
comparatively  unyielding  floor,  it  works  out  a  cave. 
Instances  of  these  are  common  in  every  limestone 
district.  Often  the  stream  which  has  made  them  has 
disappeared,  having  at  last  forced  its  way  through  the 
obstacle  to  a  lower  level  ;  but  occasionally  it,  or  a 
tributary,  may  be  encountered,  as  in  the  Grotte  des 
Fees,  above  St.  Maurice,  or  the  river  comes  to  the 
light  of  day,  sometimes  forming  a  cascade  in  the  face 
of  a  cliff,  as  it  does  in  at  least  three  places  near 
Trafoi,  at  the  base  of  the  Ortler,  sometimes  breaking 
out  from  a  rocky  slope,  as  in  the  well-known  Sieben- 
brunnen,  above  Lenk  in  the  Simmenthal.'  The 
Adelsberg  caves,  on  the  route  between  Marburg 
and  Trieste,  are  the  most  remarkable  example.  But 
as  these  lie  rather  beyond  the  strict  limit  of  the 
Alps  we  must  pass  them  by  without  entering  into 
details,  only  remarking  that  here  a  river  (the  Poik) 
burrows  underground  for  a  distance  of  more  than  two 
miles,  finally  returning,  augmented  by  tributaries,  to 
the   light   of  day   under   a   new  name.  2     Caves  and 

^  When  I  saw  them  they  were  no  longer  seven  ;  now,  according  to 
Baedeker,  there  is  only  one. 

^  Instances  of  all  that  we  have  been  describing  can,  of  course,  be 
found  in  some  limestone  districts  in  our  own  country. 

206 


Work   of  Rain  and   Underground   Water 

subterranean  water-courses,  as  might  be  expected, 
are  also  common  in  the  Jura ;  but  they  are  rare 
and  small  in  the  crystalline  regions  of  the  Alps. 
The  noted  Baume  des  Vaudois,  or  Balme-Chapelu, 
among  the  crags  of  the  Pelvoux,  above  the  Val 
Louise,  must,  however,  be  of  considerable  size,  for 
in  it  a  large  number  of  the  Vaudois  sought  refuge 
from  their  persecutors,  and  were  at  last  ruthlessly 
massacred  ;  those  within  its  recesses  being  stifled 
by  piling  brushwood  against  the  entrance  and  setting 
it  alight.  According  to  tradition  the  victims  num- 
bered three  thousand  ;  but  that  more  probably  applies 
to  the  whole  Vaudois  population  of  the  valley,  and 
Joanne  '  states  that  the  present  aspect  of  the  cave 
cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  story,  so  we  may  hope 
it  has  been  exaggerated. 

But  the  most  interesting  caves  in  the  Alpine  region 
are  those  called  Glacieres,  which,  as  the  name  implies, 
are  ice-houses,  but  natural  instead  of  artificial.  They 
are  not,  however,  restricted  to  the  Alps,  for  seven  at 
least  are  dotted  about  the  Jura  ;  there  is  one  near 
Die  in  the  south  of  Dauphin^  and  a  few  in  other 
parts  of  the  world. ^  In  the  Alps  I  have  myself  seen 
six,  if  one  in  the  Val  d'Herens  be  counted,  which  is 
hardly  worthy  of  the  name,  and  as  they  are  but 
seldom  visited   by  travellers    I  will   describe   one   of 

'  "  Itineraire  du  Dauphine,"  2"^^  partie  p.  190  (1863).  I  was  not 
able  to  visit  the  cave  when  on  the  Pelvoux. 

2  Almost  all  those  in  the  Alps  were  described,  after  personal 
examination,  by  G.  F.  Browne  (now  Bishop  of  Bristol)  in  his 
pleasantly  written  book,  "Ice  Caves  of  France  and  Switzerland" 
(1865),  with  notes  on  more  distant  examples,  and  a  discussion 
of  their  physical  history.  Another  subsequently  visited  is  described 
by  him  in  "Off  the  Mill"  (1895),  p.  90. 

207 


The  Building  of  the   Alps 

the  most  accessible.  This  is  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Lake  of  Thun,  in  the  cliffs  overhanging  the 
Justisthal,  at  a  height  of  about  5,840  feet  above 
sea-level.  The  entrance  is  a  fine  natural  doorway, 
about  eight  yards  high  and  eleven  wide,  which  com- 
mands a  splendid  view  of  the  Jungfrau.  For  a  short 
distance  the  cave  runs  nearly  at  the  same  level  at  right 
angles  to  the  cliff-face  ;  then,  after  a  slight  southerly 
deflection,  it  curves  rapidly  round  towards  the  north, 
and  the  floor  begins  to  descend.  The  roof  maintains 
nearly  the  same  level,  so  that  the  height  of  the  cave 
increases  considerably.  Huge  blocks,  evidently  fallen 
from  above,  are  piled  upon  the  floor.  Presently  we  find 
small  stalagmitic  incrustations  of  ice  on  these  blocks, 
and  a  little  farther  on,  where  the  light  of  day  has 
faded  away,  this  occurs  in  large  quantities.  "  It 
streams  down  the  rocky  walls  in  transparent  sheets, 
and  hangs  in  clustering  stalactites  from  the  roof. 
Beneath  these  stalagmitic  masses  rise  up  from  the 
floor,  which  in  one  case  had  united  with  the  pendants 
above,  so  as  to  form  a  column  of  purest  ice  a  foot 
or  so  in  diameter.  Before  reaching  them,  ice  appears 
more  and  more  frequently,  not  only  on,  but  among  the 
debris  scattered  on  the  ground,  till  at  last  it  occupies  all 
the  floor  of  the  cavern.  Its  surface  is  tolerably  level, 
shelving  slightly,  on  the  whole,  towards  the  left-hand 
side  .  .  .  and  rising  occasionally  into  a  low  undulation 
or  protuberance.  Water  lay  here  and  there  in  shallow 
pools,  and  the  whole  surface  was  exceedingly  slippery 
and  generally  damp."  The  ice  exhibited  a  peculiar 
prismatic  structure,  which  we  must  leave  for  the 
moment.  "Passing  on,  we  came  to  a  break  in,  the 
level  floor  of  the  cave,  the  whole  mass  of  ice  suddenly 

208 


Work  of  Rain   and    Underground   Water 

shelving  down  at  a  tolerably  steep  inclination,  and 
apparently  plunging  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth." 
This,  however,  is  illusory  ;  the  slope,  partly  of  ice, 
partly  of  screes,  is  not  a  long  one,  and  leads  to  a 
second  level  floor,  with  surroundings  like  the  one 
already  described,  except  that  here  the  prismatic 
structure  of  the  ice  was  less  distinct  and  sometimes 
wanting.  '*  The  cave  does  not  end  gradually  by 
narrowing  into  a  fissure,  but  terminates  almost 
abruptly,  more  like  an  incomplete  tunnel,  the  roof 
close  to  the  end  being  perhaps  a  dozen  feet  from 
the  stone-strewn  floor."  ^ 

These  glacieres  suggest  two  questions  not  easily 
answered,  namely,  What  is  their  origin  ?  and  what 
the  cause  of  the  prismatic  structure  ?  Of  the 
former  several  explanations  have  been  offered, 
which  are  discussed  in  my  friend's  volume.  Ac- 
count must  be  taken  of  the  following  facts :  the 
ice  is  always  well  below  the  entrance  of  the 
cave ;  the  latter  is  protected  from  radiation ;  it  is 
also  so  far  shielded  from  the  wind  that  warm  air 
cannot  have  ready  access,  though  during  winter 
storms  snow  may  be  driven  inside.  On  a  summer's 
day  the  temperature  is  very  near  the  freezing-point, 
usually  a  degree  or  so  above,  which  accounts  for  the 
wet  surface  of  the  ice.  Probably  it  often  falls  slightly 
below  that  during  the  night,  for  these  caves  commonly 
occur  between  4,000  and  6,000  feet. above  sea-level, 
while  for  over  six  months  in  the  year  there  would 
be  a  steady  frost,  and  in  some  of  them  a  considerable 

^  I  visited  it  on  July  8,  1870,  and  this  account  is  condensed  from 
one  contributed  to  a  College  magazine,  called  TAe  Eag/e,  vol.  vii. 
p.  129 

209  O 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

incursion  of  snow.^  Thus  we  both  look  upon  them 
as  natural  ice-houses,  which  view,  as  we  afterwards 
found,  had  already  been  expressed  by  Deluc.  Their 
comparative  rarity  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that 
as  they  are  in  most  cases  in  zones  where  the  mean 
temperature  rather  exceeds  32°,  they  can  only  exist 
under  specially  favourable  circumstances. 

This  also  we  believe  to  be  the  cause  of  the 
prismatic  structure  which  existed  in  every  one  of 
the  thirteen  visited  by  my  friend,  though  the  prisms 
were  not  constant  in  size,  ranging  from  about  half  an 
inch  to  rather  more  than  two  inches  in  diameter,  and 
not  often  exceeding  two  or  three  inches  in  length. 
They  are  at  right  angles  to  the  surface,  whether  that 
be  curved  or  flat,  and  may  be  seen  occasionally,  after 
a  slow  thaw  has  begun,  in  the  ice  of  ponds  in  England. 
Their  coherence  is  so  imperfect  that  a  cake  of  ice  a 
couple  of  inches  thick  can  easily  be  broken  up  with 
the  fingers  and  the  prisms  separated.  They  are,  I 
believe,  a  result  of  contraction,  like  the  columnar 
structure  in  starch,  or  in  the  sandstone  lining  of 
furnaces,  or,  on  a  larger  scale,  in  basalt  and  other 
volcanic  rocks.  How  this  takes  place  in  a  substance 
with  the  peculiar  properties  of  ice  is  not  easy  to 
understand,  but  the  structure,  at  any  rate  in  the 
open  air,  only  appears  during  a  slow  thaw,  when 
the  ice  has  been  kept  for  a  considerable  time  very 
nearly  at  its  melting-point. ^ 

*  Both  air  and  earth  mean  temperature  at  the  Schafloch  must 
be  very  near  the  freezing  point — not  more  than  33°  according  to  my 
estimate.  In  "Ice  Caves  "  it  is  given  as  33*88°  (p.  310),  which,  as 
it  is  calculated  from  Geneva,  is  probably  a  little  too  high.  Two 
caves  in  the  Jura  work  out  at  38*55°  and  40*32.° 

=»  For  a  fuller  discussion  on  the  subject,  see  "Ice  Caves," 
chap,  xviii.,  and  "Alpine  Regions,"  chap.  iv. 

210 


m 


Work   of  Rain  and    Underground   Water 

Mineral  springs  must  receive  a  brief  notice  before 
we  quit  subterranean  topics.     These,  in  the  Alps,  are 
large  in  number  ^  and  diverse  in  nature.     Sometimes  / 
the  waters  are  used  for  drinking,  at  others  for  bathing, 
often  for  both  purposes.     Most  of  them  are  at  least 
slightly  tepid  ;  a  few  are  very  warm.     Some  contain 
little    more   than    carbonic    acid ;    others    carbonates, 
especially  of  iron  and  lime  ;   many  are  alkaline,  and 
several    saline.     The    springs    at    Ceresole,    on    the 
southern    side    of  the  Graians,  are  so  charged   with 
gas  that  when  ^.n  uncorked  bottle,   recently  filled,  is 
brouo^ht  to  table,  the  water  effervesces  in  the  oflass. 
The  St.  Moritz  waters  also  are  slightly  effervescent  ; 
they  contain    salts    of  alkalies   and   iron.     Those   of 
Bormio,    Bad    Gastein,    Brides-les-Bains,    and    Brags 
are  more  or  less  alkaline  ;  at  Allevard  and  Leuk  they 
are  chiefly  saline  ;    at  Courmayeur,  St.  Vincent,  Sta. 
Catharina,    and     Monetier    chalybeate ;    at     Uriage, 
Ratzes,    and    Stachelberg    chiefly   sulphurous ;    while 
one  or  two,  quite  as  noted,  like  Pre  St.   Didier  and 
Pfafers,  are  little  more  than  pure  hot  water.     At  the 
baths  of  Leuk,  which  have  been  repeatedly  described, 
the  springs  vary  in  temperature  from   about    90°   to 
120°,  and  the  patients  lead  an  amphibious  life,  passing 
sometimes  as  much  as  eight  hours  daily  in  the  bath. 
Floating  tables  enable  them  to  read  books  and  play 
games,   and,   as    a   complete   costume    is  worn,   both 
sexes  are  together,  and  friends  gossip  with  them  from 
the  galleries.     At  Monetier  one   of  the  two  springs 
issues  from  the  ground   at  a  temperature   of  nearly 
108°,  and  is  so  rich   in  iron  that  the  pebbles  in  the 

^  Switzerland  alone  was  said  in  1868  (**  Alpine  Regions,"  p.  106) 
to  have  246  bathing  establishments. 

211 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

stream  carrying  off  the  waste  water  are  thickly  coated 
with  rust.  At  Ratzes  and  Stachelberg  the  baths  have 
a  lid,  to  protect  the  patient  from  the  fumes,  his  head 
and  shoulders  protruding  from  an  aperture,  and  at  the 
latter  place  the  water  is  the  colour  of  brimstone,  and 
its  odour  lingers  for  some  hours.  But  Pfafers  is  the 
most  romantic,  and  in  another  respect  not  the  least 
remarkable  of  the  Alpine  springs.  The  source  is  in 
the  gorge  of  the  Tamina,  which  is  very  narrow, 
and  at  least  300  feet  in  depth.  After  passing 
through  a  bath-house  at  the  entrance,  we  follow  a 
wooden  platform,  built  a  few  yards  above  the  torrent. 
*'  Here  and  there  the  rocks  appear  to  close  overhead, 
and  you  grope  your  way  in  a  twilight  gloom  ;  then 
they  part  again,  and  show  a  glimpse  of  fringing  trees 
and  blades  of  grass,  glittering  in  the  sunlight,  while 
perhaps  one  stray  beam  struggles  through  the  shade, 
and  for  a  moment  gleams  upon  the  gloomy  torrent. 
Presently  a  dense  mist  is  seen  rising  from  the  waters. 
It  is  the  reek  of  the  hot  springs,  wildly  beautiful  when 
lit  up  by  the  sunbeams.'*  ^  The  temperature  of  the 
principal  spring  is  about  99°.  The  waters  are  limpid, 
and  contain  only  a  very  small  quantity  of  chloride  of 
sodium  and  magnesium,  yet  they  are  highly  beneficial 
in  certain  gastric  and  rheumatic  disorders ;  so  much 
so  that,  when  re-discovered  by  a  hunter  in  1240,^  for 
many  years  afterwards  patients  were  lowered  from 
above,  left  there  with  the  poorest  of  shelters  3  till  they 
had    completed    their   course,    and   were    hauled   up 

^  "  Alpine  Regions,"  p.  108. 

2  They  were  known  in  the  eleventh  century,  but  owing  to  the 
danger  of  access  had  been  disused  and  forgotten. 

3  Built  in  1242  by  the  Benedictines  of  Pfafers  Abbey  (Baedeker). 

212 


Work  of  Rain   and   Underground   Water 

again  actually  the  better  for  the  treatment.  Now 
there  is  not  only  a  rather  large  bath-house  at  the 
entrance,  but  the  water  is  carried  down  to  Ragatz, 
in  the  Rhine  valley,  with  little  loss  of  heat,  though 
quite  two  and  a  half  miles  away,  and  there  the 
invalid  can  find  ample  and,  if  desired,  luxurious 
accommodation. 

Springs  of  strong  brine,  often  associated  with  rock- 
salt,  occur  in  some  districts.  Those  of  Moutiers 
Tarentaise  have  been  known  since  Roman  times, 
and  are  still  worked.  The  water  contains  some  car- 
bonic acid  and  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  besides  a  little 
sulphate  of  soda  and  lime,  and  magnesium  as  well 
as  sodium  chloride.  But  of  the  last  the  amount  is 
not  quite  2  per  cent.,  so  a  cheap  and  ingenious 
process  is  used  for  concentrating  the  brine,  which  is 
described  at  full  length  by  Bakewell.^  It  is  conducted 
from  the  springs  to  the  Salines,  where  the  process  is 
carried  out,  and  there  allowed  to  trickle  down  over 
piles  of  faggots  or  lines  of  cord.  Some  water 
evaporates,  and  the  residue  is  again  pumped  up, 
this  being  repeated  till  the  strength  of  the  brine  is 
greatly  increased,  when  it  is  boiled  in  the  usual  way. 
Salt,  of  course,  is  deposited  on  the  faggots  and  cords, 
which  is  collected  at  suitable  intervals.^  Rock-salt 
also  is  obtained  in  several  parts  of  the  Alps ;  for 
instance,  close  to  Bex  in  the  Rhone  valley,  by  the 
Lake  of  Hallstadt,  at  Hallein  near  Ischl,  and  near 
Berchtesgaden.  At  the  last,  in  1872,  the  visitor  put 
on  a  suit  of  protective  vestments,   with   a   leathern 

'  "  Travels  in  the  Tarentaise,"  vol.  i.  chap.  vi. 
2  That  method  was  follo'wed  when  I  visited  the  place  in  1862, 
and  is  probably  still  in  use. 

213 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

flap  antithetical  to  an  apron.  Then,  after  a  journey 
through  a  tunnel  lined  with  masonry,  he  came  to  the 
live  rock,  a  dark  clay  or  shale,  nodular  in  structure, 
and  traversed  by  thin  veins  of  salt.  Sometimes, 
however,  he  passed  through  or  under  harder  strata, 
mounting  an  occasional  flight  of  steps,  till  he  entered 
a  huge  chamber,  doubtless  artificial,  with  a  flat  roof, 
which  was  filled  with  brine  up  to  just  below  his  feet. 
In  the  middle  a  fountain  played,  and  a  row  of  lights 
along  one  side  was  reflected  in  the  water.  Across 
that  he  was  rowed  in  a  boat,  and  on  landing  at  the 
other  side  presently  seated  himself  on  a  slide,  con- 
structed of  smooth  poles,  which  sloped  down  into  the 
darkness,  and  indicated  the  use  of  the  reversed  aprons. 
Letting  himself  go,  he  plunged  downwards,  and  a  short 
walk,  when  that  trial  to  the  nerves  was  over,  brought 
him  into  a  large  excavation,  where  rock-salt  was 
quarried.  More  passages  followed,  and  another  brine 
spring,  till  at  last  he  mounted  a  sort  of  wooden  horse, 
which  brought  him  back  to  the  daylight  and  freedom 
from  his  outer  casing. 

Other  minerals  of  commercial  value  occur  locally  in 
the  Alps.  Gold  is  found  in  small  quantities,  especially 
near  Monte  Rosa,  the  most  productive  spot  being  at 
Pestarena  in  the  Val  Anzasca,  where  it  has  been 
worked  since  Roman  times. ^  It  is  embedded  in 
pyrite,  like  that  in  the  **  banket "  of  the  Transvaal, 
and,  as  is  the  case  there,  the  grains  are  often  so 
minute  as  to  be  indistinguishable  by  the  eye.  Silver 
is  worked  near  Auronzo  and  Primiero  in  the  Italian 
Tyrol  and  La  Grave  in  Dauphin^.     Mercury,  chiefly 

^  Described    by   De    Saussure,    "Voyages,"    §2132,   and    King, 
"Italian  Valleys  of  the  Alps,"  chap.  xv. 

214 


Work   of  Rain   and    Underground  Water 

cinnabar,  is  obtained  at  Idria  in  Carniola,  but  occurs 
rarely  in  the  Alps  ;  nickel  mines  exist  at  La  Balma 
in  the  Val  Sesia,  Migiandone  near  the  Simplon  road, 
and  not  far  from  Grimentz  in  the  Val  d'Anniviers. 
Lead  mines  are  not  infrequent ;  copper  is  found  in 
the  Val  Pelline,  the  Val  d'Aoste,  especially  in  the 
tributary  Val  St.  Marcel,^  the  Val  Sesia,  and  several 
other  localities.  The  most  noted  iron  mines  are  those 
in  the  Val  de  Cogne,  which  have  been  worked,  off 
and  on,  since  Roman  times.  The  ore,  which  is 
obtained  in  two  of  the  upper  glens,  is  the  magnetic 
oxide.  The  smaller  and  more  accessible  of  the  mines, 
called  the  Filon  Larsine,  is  some  little  height  up  the 
steep  left  bank  of  the  Vallon  de  Grauson,  and  is  worked 
in  several  openings.  But  the  other  mine,  the  Filon 
Licone,  is  a  much  larger  affair.^  It  is  on  a  mountain 
slope  at  a  height  of  7,667  feet  above  sea-level  and  can 
be  reached  in  about  two  and  a  half  hours'  walking  from 
the  village  of  Cogne.  The  ore  is  associated  in  both  places 
with  a  mass  of  serpentine,  which  is  intrusive  in  calc-mica 
schist,  and  it  passes  quickly,  but  by  almost  insensible 
gradations,  into  the  former  rock.  One  authority  gives 
the  length  of  the  mass  as  a  little  under  500  feet  and  its 
maximum  thickness  as  82  to  98  feet ;  but  the  whole 
extent  is  not  generally  exposed.  It  is  worked  as  an 
open  quarry  on  the  hillside,  the  ore  being  extraordin- 
arily pure.  For  reasons  given  in  the  paper  to  which 
I  have  referred  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  really  a  huge 
inclusion,  and  that  the  olivine  rock  (which  has  been 
converted  into  serpentine),  while  it  was  being  forced 

'  Here  also  manganese  is  obtained. 

="  Condensed    from  a  paper    by  the   author,  Quart,  /our.   GeoL 
Soc,  vol.  lix.  (1903),  p.  55. 

215 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

from  beneath  into  a  higher  position  in  the  earth  s 
crust,  encountered  and  tore  off  a  mass  (probably 
barely  solid)  of  magnetite,  which  it  carried  up.  At 
the  margin  of  the  two  semi-molten  substances  the 
component  minerals  would  be  more  or  less  mixed 
together  so  as  to  form  the  passage  zone  which  has 
been  already  mentioned.^ 

Among  minerals  which  generally  occur  in  smaller 
quantities  but  are  greater  attractions  to  the  collector, 
asbestos  is  not  uncommon,  and  in  one  case  at  least, 
on  the  way  from  Chiesa  in  the  Val  Malenco  to  the 
Canciano  Pass,  is  in  a  mass  large  enough  to  be 
worked.  Near  the  former  village  a  potstone,  some 
kind  of  massive  chlorite,  is  obtained,  which  is  used 
for  cooking  vessels  and  other  purposes  where  endur- 
ance of  heat  is  important.  Near  Zinal  a  talc-schist 
is  quarried  and  the  slabs  are  employed  in  constructing 
stoves  ;  varieties  of  both  materials  are  obtained  in  a 
few  other  localities.  Fairly  good  crystals  of  one  or 
another  species  of  chlorite  occur  in  several  places, 
Zermatt  being  one  of  them.  Tremolite,  a  white 
hornblende,  is  rather  abundant  in  the  crystalline 
dolomite  which  forms  the  crest  of  the  rano-e  south- 
east  of  the  Lago  di  Tremorgio ;  actinolite,  another 
form  of  that  mineral,  also  elongated  in  shape,  but 
green  in  colour,  is  abundant  in  a  band  that  crosses 
tlie  Val  Canaria  on  the  south  side  of  the  St.  Gotthard  ; 
glaucophane,  a  rather  rare  violet-blue  hornblende,  is 
found  in  several  places  ;  for  instance,  on  the  Viso,  in 

^  I.e.^  the  rock  called  Cumberlandite.  As  the  specific  gravity  of 
magnetite  is  much  higher  than  that  of  olivine  it  should  have  been  at 
a  lower  depth  than  the  latter,  but  the  great  folding  the  Alps  have 
undergone  may  account  for  anomalies. 

2l6 


Work  of  Rain  and    Underground   Water 

the  Saas  and  Zermatt  districts,  in  the  Val  d'Aoste,  on 
the  southern  side  of  which,  above  St.  Marcel,  it  is  so 
abundant  that  many  of  the  blocks  paving  the  mule- 
track  or  forming  its  rough  walls  are  a  glaucophane- 
eclogite.  In  the  upper  part  of  the  tributary  glen, 
which  joins  the  Dora  Baltea  valley  at  this  village  and 
is  named  from  it,  piedmontite  is  obtained,  the  man- 
ganese-bearing epidote,  a  rare  and  richly-coloured 
mineral.  Red  garnets  (almandite)  are  often  abundant, 
but  are  of  no  value  to  the  gem-cutter.  Specimens 
not  larg^er  than  currants  in  a  cake  and  as  close  too^ether 
characterise  some  mica-schists  and  gneisses,  but  they 
are  occasionally  as  big  as  cherries  ;  for  instance,  in  a 
zone  extending  eastward  from  near  the  forts  on  the 
south  side  of  the  St.  Gotthard  Pass  towards  the  Val 
Piora.  In  the  Val  Canaria  I  found  one  fully  an  inch 
in  diameter ;  but  they  run  quite  as  large  as  that  near 
Premia,  in  the  Val  Formazza.^  Black  garnets,  about 
the  size  of  large  peas,  probably  dirty  almandites,  are 
also  very  common  at  intervals  in  a  dark  schist,  which 
may  be  traced  for  many  miles  through  and  beyond  the 
Lepontine  Alps.  Small  but  well-formed  crystals  of  a 
pale-red  garnet  (essonite)  are  found  with  a  chlorite 
and  diopside  (an  almost  colourless  augite)  at  Ala,  in 
Piedmont.  Fairly  good  specimens  of  kyanite  and 
staurolite  occur  separately  on  the  northern  flank  of 
the  Lago  Ritom,  and  finer  specimens  of  the  one 
are  obtained,  together  with  the  other,  high  up  the 
Pizzo  Forno,  near  the  Campolungo  Pass.^    Pretty  well 

^  I  got  a  specimen  there  so  long  ago  as  i860.  That  was  from  the 
old  mule-track.  The  rock,  as  I  found  to  my  regret  in  1907,  is  not 
seen  from  the  new  carriage-road. 

2  The  Binnenthal  is  rich  in  rare  minerals,  which,  however,  are 
generally  so  inconspicuous  as  to  be  noticed  only  by  experts. 

217 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

crystallized  tourmalines,  andalusites,  and  zoisites  are 
obtained  at  one  or  two  places  in  the  Tyrol,  and  the 
first  reaches  a  fair  size  in  the  crags  of  Monte  Rosa 
above  the  Corner  Glacier.  Rather  good  crystals  of 
albite  felspar  come  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
St.  Gotthard  Pass,  and  those  of  orthoclase  from  the 
granite  near  Baveno  have  given  a  name  to  a  par- 
ticular form  of  twin.  Quartz  crystals  are  common  in 
many  of  the  crystalline  regions.  Those  from  the  Val 
Ven^on  in  the  Dauphin^  Alps  take  a  singular  shape 
in  consequence  of  the  unequal  development  of  their 
faces  ;  in  other  places  specimens  are  obtained  remark- 
able for  their  size.  The  Natural  History  Museum  at 
Bern  contains  several  specimens  of  "  smoky  "  quartz 
from  a  fissure  in  the  cliffs  flanking  the  Tiefen  Glacier 
(on  the  north  side  of  the  Urserenthal),  which  was 
accidentally  discovered  in  1868.  The  crystals  removed 
from  it  are  said  to  have  weighed  12J  tons.^  In  a 
group  of  seven  giants  the  longest,  Der  Konig,  is  just 
over  2  feet  10  inches  and  is  3  feet  3  inches  in  girth, 
while  another,  Der  Dicke,  is  slightly  more  than  7 
inches  shorter,  but  is  stouter  by  4  inches. 

'  Baedeker,  "Switzerland,"  ii.,  Route  35. 


218 


CHAPTER    IX 

AVALANCHES  AND   FLOODS 

Before  quitting  the  subject  of  denudation  and  trans- 
port we  must  describe  a  few  agents  which  are  local 
and  rather  catastrophic  in  character.  Among  these, 
avalanches  ^  are  perhaps  the  most  notable,  of  which 
there  are  several  kinds,  some  consisting  of  snow  or 
ice,  others  of  rock.  At  any  time  of  the  year,  after  a 
heavy  fall  of  snow  upon  the  higher  slopes  of  a  mountain, 
this  may  slip  off  the  underlying  surface  when  it  is  hard 
frozen  or  is  steep  and  smooth  turf.  Frequently  also 
at  the  coming  of  spring  large  masses  of  half-solid 
snow  scale  away  from  the  mountain-side  and  slide 
down  to  the  valley.  The  first  is  commoner  in  the 
winter,  but  is  occasionally  a  danger  in  summer  after 
bad  weather,  and  in  the  German-speaking  districts  is 
called,  from  .the  incoherency  of  its  material,  Staub- 
lauine  (dust  avalanche).  The  other  consists  of  more 
compact  snow  and  bears  the  name  Grund-lauine 
(ground  avalanche).  Our  house  roofs  often  afford 
instances  of  either  on  a  small  scale,  the  one  occurring 

^  Avalanche  is  the  French  name,  Lauine  the  German,  valanga  the 
Italian,  and  lavina  the  Romansch.  It  seems  to  be  connected  with 
the  Latin  word  ladi  (to  glide),  and  appears  in  a  document  about 
Canton  Schwyz,  dated  1302,  under  the  form  lowinae  (W.  A.  B. 
Coolidge,  "The  Alps  in  Nature  and  History,"  p.  30). 

219 


The    Building  of  the  Alps 

soon  after  a  snowfall,  the  other  when  a  thaw  sets  in 
after  a  long  frost.  Both  kinds  of  avalanche  may  be 
destructive  to  property  or  life,  but  the  latter  are 
generally  the  more  formidable.  They  sweep  broad 
paths  through  the  forest-clad  slopes,  laying  low  and 
even  tearing  up  the  trees  and  carrying  downwards 
soil  and  boulders  ;  may  block  roads,  crush  cottages, 
overwhelm  cattle,  entomb  human  beings.  In  sunless 
ravines  the  fallen  snow  often  lingers  till  late  in  the 
summer,  and  occasionally  may  only  be  removed  by 
one  of  exceptional  warmth.  In  some  cases  the 
amount  brought  down  is  very  large.  On  March  27, 
1907,  I  saw,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Reuss,  about  half  a 
league  above  Altdorf,  an  avalanche  lying  like  a  glacier 
on  the  slope,  one  lobe  of  which  almost  reached  the 
river,  and  though  diminished,  it  was  still  large  when 
I  returned  on  May  2nd.  The  dust  avalanches  are 
more  dangerous  to  the  winter  traveller.  In  walking 
up  a  mountain  valley  we  not  unfrequently  see  by  the 
side  of  the  path  a  little  cross  to  commemorate  some 
peasant  who  has  found  death  and  temporary  burial 
beneath  the  falling  snow,  and  now  that  winter  expedi- 
tions on  snowshoes  or  ski  attract  so  many  visitors  to 
the  Alps,  the  tale  of  those  who  shall  return  no  more  is 
annually  increasing.  At  the  beginning  of  December, 
1720,  General  Macdonald's  troops  lost  heavily  in 
crossing  the  Splligen  Pass,  about  a  hundred  men  being 
swept  away  by  avalanches  in  the  Gorge  of  the  Cardenell 
alone.  It  is  said  that  in  the  year  1500  six  hundred 
persons  were  overwhelmed  by  one  in  crossing  the 
Great  St.  Bernard,  and  half  that  number  in  1624,  by 
another  from  Monte  Cassedra,  in  Canton  Ticino  ;  but 
in  less  distant  times  one  of  the  best  authenticated  falls 

220 


Avalanches  and  Floods 

occurred  on  February  i8,  1720,  at  Obergestelen,  about 
two  leagues  from  the  end  of  the  Rhone  Glacier. 
During  the  night  an  avalanche  came  down  upon  the 
village  and  destroyed  1 20  cottages,  400  head  of  cattle, 
and  88  persons.  The  last  were  entombed  in  a  large 
pit  in  the  churchyard,  over  which  this  epitaph  was 
inscribed:  '' Gott,  welche  Trauer !  acht  und  achtzig 
in  einem  Grab  !  "  ^  Pine  forests,  if  large  enough,  are 
useful  defences  against  avalanches,  and  in  certain 
positions  are  maintained  for  this  purpose ;  and  in 
others  strong,  wedge-like  defences  have  been  con- 
structed above  a  village  to  divert  the  snow  into  a 
harmless  direction.  Protective  galleries  also  are  con- 
structed in  dangerous  parts  of  the  great  high-roads  ;  so 
that  although  these  winter  missiles  of  the  mountains 
occasionally  exact  their  toll  of  human  life,  the  losses 
now  bear  a  much  smaller  proportion  to  the  number  of 
travellers. 

Ice  avalanches  are  frequent,  especially  in  summer. 
On  a  small  scale  these  are  formed  by  the  fall  of  a  serac, 
the  effects  of  which  are,  of  course,  very  local ;  on  a 
larger  they  occur  when  the  ice  breaks  off  on  arriving 
at  the  edge  of  a  cliff.  Occasionally  these  sweep  slopes 
which  must  be  traversed  in  ascending  a  high  peak  or 
pass,  and  are  thus  dangerous  to  mountaineers,  but  the 
ordinary  traveller  is  quite  out  of  the  range  of  fire. 
The  ice  cascades  from  the  northern  cliffs  of  the  Jung- 
frau  are  among  the  attractions  of  the  Wengern  Alp. 
About  a  mile  away  they  seem  like  a  smaller  but  fuller 
Staubbach,  which  leaps  suddenly  down  a  cliff  from  an 
unnoticed  gorge,  and  almost  as  quickly  dies  away. 
Occasionally,  probably  in  consequence  of  a  large  mass 
^  The  Author,  "The  Alpine  Regions,"  p.  124. 
221 


The   Building   of  the  Alps 

falling  on  a  rock  ledge,  and  shattering  like  a  burst 
bombshell,  they  are  "  like  a  downward  smoke "  ; 
not  indeed  ''slow  dropping  veils  of  thinnest  lawn," 
but  resembling  a  puff  of  steam  shot  downwards 
instead  of  upwards  from  some  gigantic  locomotive. 
The  late  Sir  F.  Galton  in  1862  discovered  a  way  by 
which  one  of  the  more  frequented  channels  could  be 
approached  in  safety.  Sheltered  under  an  overhanging 
slab  of  rock  he  watched  their  passage.  One  of  the 
largest  ''gave  notice  of  its  coming  by  a  prodigious 
roar,  and  the  appearance  of  an  exceedingly  menacing 
cloud  of  snow -dust  that  was  shot  out  far  above  my 
head,  .  .  .  the  hurtling  of  the  ice-balls  in  the  depths 
of  the  ravine,  and  the  crash  of  the  huge  hailstorm 
that  issued  at  its  foot,  were  almost  frightful.  The 
storm  was  remarkable  for  the  irregularities  of  its 
outbursts."  ^ 

Occasionally,  however,  though  happily  but  seldom, 
a  considerable  portion  of  a  glacier  comes  down  at  once. 
The  Bies  Glacier,  on  the  eastern  face  of  the  Weisshorn, 
did  this  in  1636,  and  destroyed  a  large  part  of  the 
village  of  Randa,  killing  thirty-six  persons.  Another 
large  mass  again  broke  away  on  December  27,  1818, 
when  blocks  of  ice  were  hurled  half  a  league  up  the 
opposite  slopes  of  the  valley.  According  to  an  official 
document,  the  village  was  not  struck  by  the  fail  of  the 
glacier,  but  the  wind  thus  raised  was  very  destructive. 
"  The  point  of  the  steeple  was  carried  away  :  houses 
were  levelled  with  the  ground,  and  the  beams  of  which 
they  had  been  built  flung  to  a  great  distance  in  the 
forest."  Many  cottages  and  outhouses  were  either 
destroyed  or  much  damaged,  but  happily  only  two 
^  Alpine  Journal^  vol.  i.  p.  186. 
222 


Avalanches  and  Floods 

persons  were  killed.  The  ddbris  of  stone,  ice,  and 
snow,  forming  a  mass  of  360,000,000  cubic  feet 
covered  all  the  cultivated  land  below  the  village  (it  is 
about  250  feet  above  the  Visp)  for  a  space  of  about 
2,400  feet  long  and  1,000  feet  wide.^  The  most  recent 
serious  disaster  of  this  kind  was  caused  by  the  Altels  on 
September  1 1,  1895,  though  an  earlier  one  in  August, 
1872,  is  on  record. 2  From  the  path  of  the  Gemmi 
that  mountain  resembled  a  great  pyramid  of  limestone, 
covered  with  ice  from  a  height  of  about  9,800  feet  to 
its  summit  (11,929  feet),  and  broken  in  one  place  at 
a  lower  level  by  a  slight  plateau.  Some  chalets  were 
situated  at  the  foot,  and  half  a  league  nearer  the 
top  of  the  pass  is  the  well-known  Schwarenbach  inn. 
For  some  days  the  temperature  had  been  high,  a 
Fohn  wind  blowing,  while  the  summit  of  the  moun- 
tain was  wrapped  in  clouds.  About  5  o'clock  in  the 
morning  a  loud  roar  was  heard,  accompanied  by  a 
violent  blast  of  wind.  ''  The  huge  mass  of  ice  forming 
the  lower  end  of  the  glacier  had  broken  away,  rushed 
down  the  mountain  side,  leapt  from  the  plateau  into 
the  valley,  and  like  an  immense  wave  had  swept  over 
the  alp,  up  the  Uschinen  Grat  (opposite),  as  if  up  a 
1,500  feet  sea-wall,  and  even  sent  its  ice-foam  over  this 
into  the  distant  Uschinen-thal.  .  .  .  The  cow-chalets 
and  huts  of  Spitalmatten  had  disappeared,  smashed 
into  splinters  and  blown  over  the  alp";  the  inhabitants, 
six  in  number  at  the  time,  were  killed,  besides  158 
cows,  some  by  the  wind,  some  by  the  direct  fall  of  the 
avalanche.  Many  of  them  were  carried  from  nearly 
550    to    well  over  1,000  yards,   and  their  bodies  left 

^  Venetz,  Conservateur  Suisse ^  vol.  x.  p.  205. 
^  "  Central  Alps,"  part  i,  p.  46. 
223 


The   Building   of  the   Alps 

from  800  to  1,150  feet  above  the  place  from  which  they 
had  been  blown.  The  trees  of  a  pine  wood  were  laid 
flat  in  parallel  rows,  like  swathes  of  corn.  According 
to  Professor  Heim's  estimate,  ''the  mass  of  ice  that  fell 
(through  a  vertical  height  of  4,700  feet,  and  a  hori- 
zontal distance  of  less  than  if  miles)  was  4,500,000 
cubic  metres."  ^ 

On  a  still  grander  scale,  and  yet  more  destructive, 
are  rock  avalanches  or  berg-falls.  Occasionally  they 
make  some  compensation,  for  it  was  to  a  mass  which 
fell  from  Monte  Pizzo,  in  1771,  that  we  owe  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  scenes  in  the  Dolomites — the  Lago 
d'Alleghe,  in  which  are  reflected  the  grand  cliffs  of 
Monte  Civetta.  But  as  a  rule  only  ruin  marks  their 
track.  A  few  out  of  the  many  instances  are  all  that 
we  can  notice.  On  September  25,  17 14,  a  great  mass 
which  fell  from  the  higher  crags  of  the  Diablerets 
buried  fifty-five  chalets,  with  many  head  of  cattle 
and  sixteen  men.  Of  the  latter,  one  only  survived, 
and  his  escape  was  marvellous.  His  chalet  was 
built  against  a  crag,  and  a  large  block  fell  in  such 
a  way  as  to  protect  it.  Thus  he  was  buried  alive. 
Fortunately  a  streamlet  made  its  way  through  the 
debris  and  trickled  into  the  chalet.  Supported  by 
this  and  by  his  store  of  cheese,  he  lived  three  months, 
labouring  incessantly  to  escape.  In  this  he  succeeded 
shortly  before  Christmas,  and  made  his  way  home  to 
the  village  of  A  vent.  His  friends  had  mourned  for  him 
as  dead,  so  every  door  was  shut  against  him,  and  the 
priest  was  summoned  to  exorcise  the  supposed  spectre. 
Not  till  he  came  could  the  unfortunate  man  persuade 
them    that  he  was   alive.     Better  known,    and  more 

*  C.  Slater,  Alpine  Journal^  vol.  xviii.  p.  431. 
224 


Avalanches    and    Floods 

destructive,  was  the  fall  of  the  Rossberg,  the  ruins 
of  which  are  piled  on  either  side  of  the  railway 
from  Lucerne  to  Brunnen,  near  Goldau  station.  The 
mountain  consists  of  thick  beds  of  nagelfluhe,  a  hard 
pudding-stone,  resting  on  less  coherent  strata,  and 
sloping  towards  the  valley.  The  catastrophe  hap- 
pened after  a  very  wet  summer,  on  September  27, 
1806.  For  two  days  rain  had  fallen  incessantly;  then 
new  cracks  appeared  on  the  flank  of  the  Rossberg  ; 
groaning  sounds  were  heard  ;  the  ground  at  the  base 
of  the  mountain  seemed  to  be  pressed  down  from  above. 
At  last,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  a  large 
chasm  opened  out  on  the  side  of  the  Rossberg,  and  a 
mass,  about  three  miles  long,  350  yards  wide,  and  33 
yards  thick,  glided  down  into  the  valley,  breaking  up 
as  it  went  into  fragments,  large  and  small.  *'  In  five 
minutes  one  of  the  most  fertile  valleys  in  Switzerland 
was  changed  into  a  stony  desert.  Three  whole  villages 
and  part  of  a  fourth,  6  churches,  1 20  houses,  200  stables 
or  chalets,  225  head  of  cattle,  and  1 1 1  arpents^  of  land 
were  buried  under  the  ruins  of  the  Rossberg."  2  The 
dead  numbered  484.  Seven  among  them  were  visitors. 
They  were  about  a  furlong  in  advance  of  four  others, 
the  rest  of  their  party.  These  *'  were  attracted  by 
something  strange  in  the  appearance  of  the  Rossberg, 
and  took  out  their  telescopes  to  see  what  was  the 
matter.  Suddenly,  a  volley  of  stones  hurtled  over 
their  heads,  a  cloud  of  dust  filled  the  valley,  and  a 
fearful  crash  was  heard.  They  fled  for  their  lives. 
When  tranquillity  was  somewhat  restored  they  returned 
to  seek  their  friends,  but  they  and  Goldau  were  buried 

'  An  arpent  is  40,000  square  feet  (French). 
2  "The  Alpine  Regions,"  p.  129. 

225  P 


The    Building  of  the   Alps 

beneath  a    hundred  feet  of  ddbris.      Of  that  village 
nothing  but  the  church  bell  was  ever  found." 

But  an  earlier  catastrophe  in  quite  another  part  of  the 
Alps  was  yet  more  terribly  disastrous.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventeenth  century  there  was  a  town  named 
Plurs  in  the  valley  of  the  Maira,  about  three  miles 
above  Chiavenna,  which,  as  a  convenient  entrepot  of 
German  and  Italian  merchants,  was  prospering  greatly. 
But  on  August  30,  161 8,  a  huge  mass  of  rock  from 
Monte  Conto  crashed  down  upon  the  town,  which  was 
practically  effaced.  A  solitary  campanile,  rising  above 
a  wilderness  of  shattered  rock  and  tangled  vegetation, 
marks  the  spot  round  which  about  1,500  persons 
perished.  The  landslip  of  Elm,  a  pleasant  village  in 
the  Sernfthal,  though  less  destructive  than  either  of 
these,  is  recent  enough  to  be  remembered  by  the  older 
generation  of  travellers  in  Switzerland.  It  occurred  in 
the  afternoon  of  September  11,  1881.  For  some  days 
before  there  had  been  rumblings  and  quakings  in  the 
flanks  of  the  Tschingelberg,  a  mountain  to  the  south- 
east of  the  village,  so  that  the  cantonal  authorities  had 
forbidden  the  cutting  of  wood  and  recommended  the 
stopping  of  slate  quarrying  in  the  more  exposed  spots. 
But  suddenly  *'  the  land,  rocks,  and  woods  below  a 
rugged,  rocky  summit  gave  way,  and  fell  a  distance  of 
1,500  to  2,000  feet.  ...  A  few  houses  only  were  de- 
stroyed by  this  first  fall,  and  the  villagers  of  the  neigh- 
bouring hamlets  were  hastening  to  the  aid  of  the 
unfortunate  people  when  two  new  and  more  terrible 
falls  took  place  and  overwhelmed  all — rescuers  and 
sufferers."  The  entire  hamlet  and  all  the  quarry  build- 
ings of  Unterthal  were  destroyed,  together  with  a  valu- 
able stock  of  slates,  and  1 1 5  lives  were  lost.     Professor 

226 


Avalanches  and  Floods 

Heim  estimated  the  weight  of  the  fallen  mass,  which 
covers  an  area  of  about  a  square  kilometre  (1,094 
yards  square),  to  be  20,000,000  tons.^ 

In  1898  serious  damage,  attended  with  some  loss  of 
life,  was  done  to  the  western  end  of  Airolo  on  the 
St.  Gotthard  route  by  a  fall  of  rock  from  a  moun- 
tain to  the  north,  which  threatened  also  to  bury  the 
railway.  A  recurrence  of  the  catastrophe  has  been 
averted,  as  it  is  hoped,  by  the  construction  of  defences : 
some  high  up  on  the  slope,  others,  like  massive  fortifi- 
cations, just  above  the  town  and  entrance  of  the 
tunnel. 

Mud  avalanches  are  altogether  more  local  and  pass 
sometimes  insensibly  into  floods.  These,  so  far  as 
one  can  infer,  were  commoner  and  on  a  larger  scale 
in  times  immediately  succeeding  the  Ice  Age  than  at 
the  present  day.  The  earth-pillars  of  the  Finster- 
bach  and  Katzenbach,  near  Botzen,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  Saasthal,  and  at  Useigne  in  the  Val  d'H^rens,  not 
to  mention  others,  are  carved,  as  we  have  said,  not 
from  moraines,  but  from  material  which,  though  no 
doubt  often  in  large  part  morainic,  has  been  transported 
some  distance  by  water.  A  good  example  of  such  a 
deposit,  in  a  position  where  it  could  not  have  been 
placed  by  a  glacier,  may  be  seen  near  Huteck,  in  the 
Saasthal .2  In  the  Himalayas,  where  disintegration 
seems  to  be  now  more  rapid  than  in  the  Alps,  these 
mud  streams  are  rather  common.  They  have  been 
noticed  of  late  years  by  Colonel  Godwin-Austen,  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Bullock  Workman,  and  Sir  Martin  Conway, 
who   saw   two  issue  from   a   gully    near  the   Hispar 

'  Alpine  /ournalt  vol.  x.  p.  422. 
^  The  Author,  Geological  MagazinCt  1902,  p.  8. 
227 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

Glacier — one  just  before,  the  other  just  after,  his 
party  crossed  it.  This  is  his  description  :  ^  *'  It  was  a 
horrid  sight.  The  weight  of  the  mud  rolled  masses  of 
rock  down  the  gully,  turning  them  over  and  over  like 
so  many  pebbles,  and  they  dammed  back  the  muddy 
torrent  and  kept  it  moving  slowly  but  with  accumu- 
lating volume.  Each  of  the  big  rocks  that  formed  the 
vanguard  of  this  avalanche  weighed  many  tons  :  the 
largest  were  about  ten-foot  cubes.  The  stuff  that 
followed  them  filled  the  nala  to  a  width  of  about  forty 
and  a  depth  of  about  fifteen  feet."  Finally  the  material 
spread  out  as  a  fan  on  the  bed  of  the  valley  below. 

Something  of  this  kind  must  have  caused  the 
temporary  lake  in  the  valley  of  the  Visp.  On  June  12, 
1907,  a  mass  of  stony  mud  swept  across  its  bed  from 
a  ravine  on  the  right  bank.  It  completely  blocked 
the  course  of  the  river  some  two  or  three  miles  above 
that  town  and  formed  a  lake,  submerging  the  railway 
for  a  few  hundred  yards,  so  that  it  became  necessary 
to  construct  a  new  track  above  the  level  of  the 
water.  On  July  24th  of  that  year  telegraph  posts, 
trees,  and  bushes  were  standing  out  of  the  water,  the 
greater  part  of  which  must  have  been  not  less  than 
8  feet  deep.  At  the  lower  end  the  Visp,  which  had 
been  forced  against  the  left  bank  of  the  valley,  was 
rushing  through  a  channel  which  it  had  already  cut 
in  the  debris,  and  may  have  by  this  time  restored  the 
valley  above  to  its  original  state.  This,  however,  was 
a  comparatively  small  matter.  A  blockage  with  much 
more  serious  consequences  occurred  in  the  valley  of 
the  Romanche.  Near  Bourg  d'Oisans,  the  almost 
simultaneous  junction  of  the  V^n^on  and  the  Olle 
'  '*  Climbing  in  the  Himalayas,"  p.  323. 
228 


■ 


Avalanches  and  Floods 

with  the  main  river  causes  a  considerable  enlargement 
of  the  valley,  which  only  a  little  way  lower  down 
becomes,  at  the  Combe  de  Gavet,  extremely  narrow. 
This  was  completely  blocked  in  the  twelfth  century  by 
a  landslip  from  a  mountain  at  its  northern  portal 
which  converted  the  plain  into  a  lake,  in  some  places 
30  feet  in  depth.  So  it  remained  for  many  years, 
*'till,  on  the  night  of  September  14,  12 19,  the  dam 
suddenly  burst,  and  the  accumulated  waters  rushed 
down  the  valley,  sweeping  everything  before  them. 
Many  villages  were  destroyed,  with  their  inhabitants, 
and  at  Grenoble  itself  numbers  were  carried  off  by  the 
flood."'  In  the  year  1512  a  similar  lake  was  formed  in 
the  Val  Blenio,  which  was  12,000  paces  round,  and  so 
deep  that  only  the  tops  of  the  church  steeples  stood 
above  the  water.  This  lasted  for  two  years  and  then 
burst,  spreading  ruin  over  the  whole  valley  between  it 
and  the  Lago  Maggiore,  and  bringing  death  to  more 
than  six  hundred  persons. 

Glaciers  also  sometimes  dam  up  streams,  till  the 
accumulated  waters  force  an  opening  through  the  ice 
and  flood  the  valley  below.  The  Marjelen  See  is 
known  to  almost  every  one  who  has  visited  the 
Eggischhorn.  Here  the  Great  Aletsch  Glacier  has 
blocked  the  mouth  of  a  small  lateral  valley  and 
converted  it  into  a  lake.  This,  at  the  lower  end,  is 
nearly  100  feet  in  its  deepest  part,  and  the  ice  formerly 
rose  above  it  in  steep  cliffs  to  about  60  feet.  Great 
blocks  detached  from  them  float  about  in  the  water. 
This,  however,  at  intervals  of  about  seven  years, 
forced  its  way  beneath  the  glacier,  and  rushed  down 
to  the  valley  of  the  Rhone,  with  the  result  of  burying 
*  The  Author,  "Alpine  Regions,"  p.  134. 
229 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

some  acres  of  fertile  valley-land  beneath  stony  mud.^ 
The  lake,  when  first  I  saw  it  in  the  summer  of  1858, 
was  in  all  its  beauty  ;  but  when  I  returned  next  day  it 
was  greatly  changed  ;  most  of  the  water  had  dis- 
appeared and  was  replaced  by  a  bed  of  dark  mud, 
on  which  many  icebergs,  some  from  30  to  40  feet 
high,  and  longer  but  rather  narrower,  were  stranded  ; 
while  about  60  feet  of  almost  smooth  blue  ice  had 
been  added  to  the  cliff.  2 

A  far  more  tragic  chapter  in  mountain  history  was 
caused  by  the  bursting  of  a  subglacial  lake  on  the 
flank  of  Mont  Blanc,  above  the  Baths  of  St.  Gervais. 
"  Owing  to  the  stoppage  of  the  subglacial  drainage,  in 
some  manner  never  precisely  ascertained,  a  lake  was 
formed  under  the  Tete  Rousse  Glacier,  in  which  an 
enormous  body  of  water  was  pent  up  at  a  spot 
10,000  feet  above  the  sea-level.  Between  one  and 
two  o'clock  on  the  night  of  July  12,  1892,  the  ice 
that  held  up  the  lake  gave  way.  The  water  swept 
in  a  torrent  of  tremendous  force  over  the  Desert  de 
Pierre  Ronde,  gathering  up  thousands  of  tons  of  rocks 
and  stones  in  its  course  ...  it  destroyed  half  the 
village  of  Bionnay  on  the  high  road  between 
Contamines  and  St.  Gervais,  joined  the  main  river 
of  the  Bon  Nant  ;  following  its  bed  ...  it  hurled  its 
seething  flood  of  water,  timber,  stones,  and  mud  upon 
the  solid  buildings  of  the  establishment  and  crushed 
them  into  fragments  ;  then  crossing  the  Chamonix 
road,  it  spread  itself  out  in  the  form  of  a  hideous  fan 
over  the  valley  of  the  Arve,  destroying  part  of  the 

^  Alpine  Journal^  vol.  vi.  p.  100  ;  vol.  ix.  p.  444. 
2  The  shrinkage  of  the  ice,  and  the  lowering  of  the  lake  by  cutting 
a  channel  at  its  upper  end,  have  now  diminished  its  beauty. 

230 


«*   «    «     «    ■ 

•  ••  •     • 


Avalanches  and  Floods 

village  of  Le  Fayet  on  its  way."  ^  The  exact  number 
of  the  victims  could  not  be  ascertained,  but  it 
exceeded  a  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  disastrous  flood  in  the  valley  of  the  Dranse 
was  also  caused  by  a  glacier.  On  the  eastern  side 
of  the  Val  de  Bagnes,  the  Gietroz  Glacier  descends 
from  the  snowy  range  separating  it  from  the  Val 
d' Kerens.  In  the  later  part  of  1817  this  glacier  not 
only  reached  the  main  valley,^  but  also  made  such  a 
complete  barrier  that  a  lake  was  formed  nearly  two 
miles  long,  four  hundred  feet  in  width,  and  about  half 
that  depth.  *'  It  was  well  known  Jwhat  the  result 
of  this  would  be,  for  in  1595  a  similar  barrier  had 
been  formed,  which  had  at  last  given  way  and 
devastated  the  valley  for  miles  below."  The  only 
chance,  therefore,  was  to  ''tap"  the  lake,  which  was 
done  next  year  under  the  direction  of  M.  Venetz, 
an  eminent  Swiss  engineer.  **A  band  of  labourers, 
working  day  and  night,  cut  a  tunnel  600  feet 
long  through  the  glacier,  which  was  completed  just 
as  the  water  reached  the  level  of  its  opening.  The 
current  quickly  deepened  and  enlarged  this,  and 
between  the  13th  and  i6th  of  June  about  two-fifths 
of  the  water  was  drawn  off  But  the  cutting  thus 
formed  so  much  weakened  the  barrier  that  on  the 
latter  day,  at  half-past  four  in  the  afternoon,  it 
suddenly  gave  way,  and  the  remaining  contents  of  the 
lake  swept  down  the  valley.  .  .  .   It  is  said  to  have 

^  C.  E.  Mathews,  "  The  Annals  of  Mont  Blanc,"  p.  246. 

^  Some  accounts  state  that  the  obstacle  was  formed  by  ice  which 
had  broken  off  the  actual  glacier  and  frozen  into  a  solid  mass. 
When  I  passed  the  place  in  1874  and  1875  ^^^  ice  had  retreated  so 
far  that  one  could  not  ascertain  what  had  happened. 

231 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

issued  from  the  defile  of  Lourtier  (a  few  miles  below 
the  glacier),  like  a  moving  wall  or  mound,  a  hundred 
yards  high,  the  head  of  the  column  of  water  being 
entirely  masked  by  the  confused  mass  of  mud,  stones, 
beams,  and  trunks  of  trees  which  it  swept  along."  ^ 
It  poured  through  Martigny  into  the  Rhone,  destroy- 
ing five  hundred  houses  and  cottages,  with  several 
bridges,  and  rendered  a  great  quantity  of  land  useless, 
at  any  rate  for  many  years.  Though  the  people  in 
the  valley  below  had  been  warned  of  the  danger, 
fifty  lives  were  lost. 

Heavy  rainstorms  over  the  higher  valleys  also 
sometimes  cause  serious  floods,  but  in  the  Alps  these 
are  not  so  disastrous  as  in  the  Pyrenees,  or  at  any  rate 
do  not  so  often  extend  beyond  their  margin,  because 
nearly  every  one  of  the  larger  rivers,  sooner  or  later, 
passes  through  a  lake,  the  level  of  which  is  but  little  raised 
by  the  swollen  torrents.  But,  higher  up  the  valleys, 
bri4ges  are  swept  away,  roads  buried  under  torrents 
of  mud,  and  fields  overwhelmed  with  debris,  after 
severe  and  long-continued  storms,  as  I  have  seen  on 
more  than  one  occasion.  The  stream  which  flows 
through  Vevey,  harmless  as  it  generally  looks,  once  so 
overflowed  its  banks  that  the  water  was  9  feet  deep 
in  some  of  the  streets,  many  houses  and  cellars  were 
filled  with  mud,  and  several  persons  drowned. 2  After 
a  long  and  violent  thunderstorm  at  Locarno  3  '*  every 

»  "  The  Alpine  Regions,"  p.  135.  Fuller  details  are  given  in 
Consefvateur  Suisse^  vol.  ix.  p.  365.  Sir  C.  Lyell,  who  on 
August  9-1 1  of  the  same  year  visited  the  valley,  gives  a  graphic 
description  of  the  havoc  ("  Life  and  Letters,"  vol.  i.  chap.  iv.). 

2  On  July  5,  1726.     Conservaieur  Suisse^  vol.  ix.  p.  214. 

3  On  September  2,  1556,  id.^  p.  431  ("Alpine  Regions," 
p.  136). 

232 


Avalanches  and  Floods 

rivulet  was  changed  into  a  torrent :  the  stream  which 
flowed  through  the  town  was  so  choked  by  uprooted 
trees  and  rocks  that  its  waters  poured  over  their  banks 
and  inundated  the  streets,  almost  burying  them 
under  mud  and  gravel.  Many  lives  were  lost  and  an 
immense  quantity  of  property  destroyed  " 


^33 


CHAPTER   X 

ALPINE   METEOROLOGY 

The  first  connected  series  of  meteorological  observa- 
tions at  high  altitudes  in  the  Alps  was  undertaken  by 
that  great  pioneer  of  scientific  exploration,  H.  B.  De 
Saussure,  who  encamped  on  the  Col  du  Geant  from 
July  3  to  July  19,  1788.^  He  would  have  remained 
longer  had  it  not  been  for  his  guides,  who  were  tired 
of  so  rtionotonous  and  uncomfortable  an  existence. 
In  the  hut  of  the  Col  du  Theodule  meteorological 
work  was  continued  for  some  months,  about  thirty 
years  ago,  and  for  the  best  part  of  a  century 
observations  have  been  made  by  the  monks  in  the 
monastery  of  St.  Bernard.  On  the  Italian  side  of 
Monte  Rosa  huts  for  this  purpose  were  erected,  first 
at  a  height  of  11,877  feet  (the  Gniffetti  Hut),  and, 
at  a  later  date,  the  Regina  Margherita  Hut  (14,961 
feet),  on  the  top  of  the  Signal- Kuppe,  or  Punta 
Gnifetti.2  Two  observatories  were  constructed  high 
up  on  Mont  Blanc,  one  a  little  below  the  two  snowy 
humps,  called  the  Bosses  du  Dromadaire,  at  14,320 

»  "Voyages,"  §§2029-2034. 

^  An  account  of  elaborate  observations  made,  with  a  most  interest- 
ing discussion  of  the  effects  of  diminished  atmospheric  pressures, 
has  been  given  by  Angelo  Mosso  in  "  Life  of  Man  on  the  High 
Alps."     Translation,  1898. 

234 


Alpine   Meteorology 

feet  above  the  sea,  the  other  on  the  summit  of  Mont 
Blanc  itself.  The  first,  a  wooden  hut,  was  completed 
in  July,  1890,  as  well  as  a  neighbouring  refuge,  at  the 
expense  of  Mons.  J.  Vallot,  a  French  mountaineer, 
who,  in  1887,  had  spent  three  nights  under  canvas 
on  the  actual  summit;  the  second  was  erected  by 
the  enthusiasm  of  Dr.  J.  Janssen,  Director  of  the 
Observatory  at  Meudon.  In  both  cases  the  diffi- 
culties of  transporting  the  materials  from  Chamonix 
were  very  great,  and  in  the  latter  there  was  the 
further  one  of  obtaining  a  foundation.  After  vainly 
endeavouring  to  strike  rock  by  making  a  tunnel  about 
50  feet  below  the  summit  and  170  feet  in  length, 
the  building  was  finally  erected  on  the  snow,  and  com- 
pleted by  the  end  of  1894.  Instruments  were  installed 
and  observations  carried  on  for  some  years,  but  the 
difficulties  of  keeping  up  communication  and  pro- 
tecting the  interior  from  the  effects  of  the  climate 
in  winter  proved  too  great,  and  before  1909  not 
only  both  were  closed,  but  also  the  latter  had  been 
removed.  I  The  Alps,  evidently,  are  not  suited  for 
continuous  observations  at  such  elevated  positions, 
and  these  will  have  to  be  sought  in  more  southern 
latitudes.  At  Garstok,  on  the  Tibetan  slopes  of  the 
Himalayas,  a  place  about  120  feet  higher  than  the 
Regina  Margherita  Hut,  an  annual  fair  is  held,  and 
monasteries  in  Ladak,  rather  above  that  level,  are  in- 
habited throughout  the  year. 

The  barometer  falls  at  an  average  rate  of  an  inch 

for  1,132  feet  of  rise  above  the  level   of  the  sea,  so 

that  at  the  summit  of  Mont  Blanc,  15,781   feet  above 

this,  it  should  stand  just  over  sixteen  inches.     Here, 

^  Baedeker,  "Switzerland"  (1909),  p.  347. 

23s 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

then,  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  is  not  much 
more  than  half  the  ordinary  amount.  That,  obviously, 
must  seriously  affect  respiration,  circulation,  and  other 
vital  functions.  Thus  the  earlier  accounts  of  mountain 
ascents,  particularly  of  Mont  Blanc,  often  dilate  upon 
the  sufferings  of  the  climber.  Breathlessness,  palpita- 
tion, headache,  nausea,  even  vomiting,  and  a  sense  of 
exhaustion  and  inability  to  move,  necessitated  fre- 
quent halts,  till  often  he  was  at  last  dragged  rather 
than  walked  up  to  the  summit.  Once  there,  however, 
the  indisposition  seemed  speedily  to  vanish,  and  not 
to  have  recurred  during  the  earlier  part  of  the 
descent ;  the  fact  being  that  it  was  to  a  very  large 
extent  due  to  want  of  strength,  or  more  often  want  of 
training,  for  a  task  undoubtedly  laborious.  When  men, 
younger  and  accustomed  to  athletic  exercises,  began 
to  ascend  the  higher  peaks,  little  more  was  heard 
of  ill-effects  from  the  rarefaction  of  the  air.  Some- 
thing, of  course,  depends  on  constitution.  Certain 
persons  suffer  from  difficulty  of  breathing  and  other 
inconveniences  if  they  remain  for  any  time  in  the  ordin- 
ary mountain  inns — that  is,  at  heights  of  from  6,000 
to  8,000  feet — while  others  feel  only  pleasurable 
sensations.  Mountain  air  to  myself  has  always  been 
a  tonic,  and  drawing  the  first  breath  as  one  stepped 
on  a  glacier  was  like  a  sip  of  champagne.  Once  only 
have  I  felt  any  symptoms  of  mountain-sickness,  and 
that  was  while  ascending  the  upper  part  of  a  pass  not 
much  over  9,000  feet  in  height.  But  there  was  a 
reason  for  this.  It  was  at  the  end  of  my  first  visit 
to  Dauphine ;  for  ten  days  we  had  been  mostly  living 
on  poor  fare — inferior  bread,  meat,  and  wine — and 
had  spent  three  nights   in   hay-chalets,   not   without 

236 


Alpine  Meteorology 

restless  company,  two  others  under  a  rock,  and  on 
the  rest  the  beds  were  hardly  conducive  to  sleep. 
We  were  all  more  or  less  "  out  of  condition,"  and  I 
happened  on  that  morning  to  be  the  worst  of  the 
three.  I  have  slept  at  12,600  feet,  and  have  often 
been  at  or  above  this  level,  twice  over  15,000  feet, 
and  have  never  noticed  anything  more  than  that,  on 
approaching  the  latter  elevation,  I  lost  breath  a  little 
sooner  than  on  an  ordinary  hillside.  The  well-known 
guides'  precept,  '*  Plus  doucement  on  monte,  plus  vite 
on  arrive  au  sommet,''  recognises  this  fact,  and  I  once 
had  clear  proof  of  it.  We  were  ascending  the  Matter- 
horn  after  passing  the  night  at  the  old  hut  but  little 
more  than  2,000  feet  below  the  summit.  This  was 
still  clear  of  clouds,  but  as  the  view  would  soon  be 
spoiled  there  was  obviously  no  time  to  lose.  So,  as 
my  only  companions  were  two  first-rate  guides,  I 
broke  the  rule  and  found  myself  getting  rather  quickly 
out  of  breath,  not  exactly  as  one  would  do  in  running 
on  the  level  down  below,  but  as  if  the  air  did  not 
properly  inflate  the  lungs.  More  than  once  I  had  to 
call  to  the  leader,  **Stop  an  instant;  I  want  to  get 
a  good  breath,"  after  which  I  went  on  for  a  while 
all  right.  We  won  the  race,  reaching  the  top  while 
it  was  still  clear,  but  the  clouds  were  drifting  over  us 
before  we  left. 

A  more  prolonged  stay  at  an  elevation  such  as  that 
of  Mont  Blanc  has,  however,  made  itself  felt  even 
by  guides  and  athletic  climbers.  In  1859  the  late 
Professor  Tyndall,  with  ten  guides,  spent  about  twenty 
hours,  including  a  night,  in  a  tent  on  the  top  of  Mont 
Blanc.  All  were  indisposed,  some  of  them  suffering 
more  than  himself.     Mr.  Whymper,  during  his  ascents 

237 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

of  the  highest  summits  in  the  Ecuadorian  Andes, 
ascertained  by  many  careful  observations  that  the 
rate  of  progress  was  considerably  slower  than  at 
ordinary  levels,  and  during  his  first  ascent  of  Chim- 
borazo  both  he  and  his  two  experienced  guides,  Jean 
Antoine  and  Louis  Carrel,  suffered  severely  from 
mountain-sickness  at  their  first  bivouac  on  Chim- 
borazo,  16,664  feet  above  sea-level,'  none  of  them 
having  felt  it  on  the  Alps.  They  had  arrived  in  per- 
fectly good  condition,  though  the  native  porters  and 
the  mules  had  already  shown  signs  of  great  exhaustion, 
but  an  hour  or  so  after  arrival  they  were  attacked. 
**  We  were  feverish,  had  intense  headache,  and 
were  unable  to  satisfy  our  desire  for  air  except  by 
breathing  with  open  mouths.  This  naturally  parched 
the  throat  and  produced  a  craving  for  drink,  which 
we  were  unable  to  satisfy — partly  from  the  difficulty 
in  obtaining  it,  and  partly  from  trouble  in  swallowing 
it.  When  we  got  enough  we  could  only  sip,  and  not 
to  save  our  lives  could  we  have  taken  a  quarter  of  a 
pint  at  a  draught.  Before  a  mouthful  was  down,  we 
were  obliged  to  breathe  and  gasp  again,  until  our 
throats  were  as  dry  as  ever.  Besides  having  our 
normal  rate  of  breathing  largely  accelerated,  we  found 
it  impossible  to  sustain  life  without  every  now  and 
then  giving  spasmodic  gulps,  just  like  fishes  when 
taken  out  of  water.  Of  course,  there  was  no  inclina- 
tion to  eat ;  but  we  wished  to  smoke,  and  found  that 
our  pipes  almost  refused  to  burn,  for  they,  like  our- 
selves, wanted   oxygen."  2     The  effects   lasted  about 

^  The  barometer  stood  at  16-5  inches. 

«  "  Travels  Amongst  the  Great  Andes  of  the  Equator,"  chap.  iii. 
The  subject  is  also  discussed  in  other  parts  of  the  book. 

238 


Alpine  Meteorology 

three  days,  and  on  the  fourth  they  began  to  move 
upwards,  without  any  recurrence  of  the  symptoms, 
though  their  rate  on  the  last  day  of  the  ascent 
*'was  deplorable.  Nearly  sixteen  hours  were  occu- 
pied in  ascending  and  descending  3,200  feet."  ^ 
They  felt  no  serious  inconvenience  during  their 
second  ascent,  nor  during  a  night  spent  on  the 
summit  of  Cotopaxi  (about  19,500  feet)  ;  and  it  was 
remarkable  that,  while  they  were  suffering,  an  Eng- 
lishman domiciled  in  Ecuador,  who  accompanied  them 
as  far  as  the  bivouac,  was  comparatively  well,  though 
by  no  means  a  man  of  strong  physique.  Since  that 
date  yet  higher  ascents  have  been  made  and  nights 
spent  at  greater  altitudes — by  Sir  Martin  Conway, 
Messrs.  FitzGerald  and  Vines,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Bullock 
Workman,  Dr.  Longstaff,  and  others — but  it  is 
generally  agreed  that  exertion  becomes  more  diffi- 
cult as  the  height  above  sea-level  increases.  Ex- 
perienced travellers  in  the  Karakoram- Himalayas 
consider  that  the  rarity  of  the  air  becomes  disgree- 
ably  perceptible  after  getting  above  some  16,000  feet, 
which  is  a  little  higher  than  any  point  in  the  Alps. 
Sir  Martin  Conway  2  records  two  experiences  which 
show  that,  even  at  a  lower  level,  ill  effects  may  be 
felt  if  the  change  be  rather  sudden.  One  was  on  the 
Oroya  railway,  which  ascends  from  Lima  to  the  crest 
of  the  Andes,  *'  where  it  is  rather  higher  than  the 
summit  of   Mont   Blanc,"  the  journey   taking   about 

^  The  barometer  at  the  summit  stood  at  14-100  inches  on  the 
first  occasion,  and  14*028  (the  lowest  reading)  on  the  second  (pp.  70 
and  325).  These  observations  gave  its  height  respectively  20,545  feet 
and  20,461  feet. 

2  "  The  Bolivian  Andes,"  chap.  iv. 

239 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

nine  hours.  Till  the  train  reached  a  level  of  about 
10,000  feet  the  passengers  were  lively.  Then  the 
first  symptoms  were  felt ;  "  soon  a  great  silence  fell 
upon  all.  People  crouched  themselves  into  strange 
positions ;  they  wrapped  up  their  heads  in  shawls, 
or  otherwise  endeavoured  to  find  relief  for  their  un- 
wonted sensations.  .  .  .  Before  long  uncanny  sounds 
were  heard  from  all  parts  of  the  train."  Though  not 
so  seriously  affected,  he  was  conscious,  after  passing  a 
height  of  13,500  feet,  of  a  slight  dizziness  and  tension 
across  the  crown  of  the  head,  with  some  disturbance 
of  the  nerves,  the  symptoms,  however,  being  mild 
enough  not  to  prevent  his  enjoyment  of  the  journey. 
A  few  days  later  he  crossed  by  railway  from  Arequipa 
to  Lake  Titicaca  in  Bolivia,  over  a  pass  14,666  feet 
above  the  sea,  without  any  inconvenience.  But  the 
morning  after  reaching  La  Paz  (11,945  ^^^^)  he  woke 
up  with  headache  and  nausea,  which  quite  prostrated 
him  for  twenty-four  hours,  and  then  took  a  final 
departure.  This  form  of  mountain-sickness,  so  the 
doctor  informed  him,  generally  attacks  any  new- 
comer to  the  town.  It  is,  therefore,  quite  possible 
that,  if  the  Jungfrau  railway  be  completed,  not  a 
few  of  the  passengers  who  are  hauled  up  to  the 
summit  may  not  care  to  "eat,  drink,  and  be 
merry." 

Rising  as  they  do,  especially  in  the  more  central 
part,  between  two  regions  differing  much  in  meteoro- 
logical conditions,  the  Alps  afford  opportunities,  often 
too  ample,  for  investigating  clouds.  Their  forms  may 
be  studied  in  some  admirable  illustrations  to  Ruskin's 
"  Modern  Painters,"  ^  and  in  a  volume  specially  devoted 
^  Vol.  V.  pt.  vii.  chaps,  i.-iii. 
240 


Alpine  Meteorology 

to  them  by  Elijah  Walton. ^  The  delicate  and  singu- 
larly beautiful  cirrus,  which  is  apt  to  be  a  precursor 
of  weather  bad  for  the  climber,  seems  to  float  at  a 
great  elevation,  for,  according  to  the  former  authority, 
it  clears  even  the  highest  peaks  ;  but  two  or  three 
forms  of  condensation  at  a  lower  level  should  be 
briefly  noticed.  The  banner-cloud  streams  from  the 
lee-side  of  a  peak,  contact  with  which  has  made 
visible  a  vapour-laden  current  of  air  till  it  once 
more  returns  to  its  former  temperature.  The  bonnet- 
cloud  sometimes  hovers  just  clear  of  asummit,  like 
a  flat  crescent-cap  of  white,  and  its  exact  history 
is  not  easily  understood.  More  often,  however,  the 
peaks,  even  in  settled  weather,  put  on  their  hats  for 
some  hours  of  the  day.  These  clouds  often  begin  to 
form  towards  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  increasing 
for  a  time  in  size,  till,  as  evening  approaches,  they 
gradually  disappear.  Thus  climbers  who  wish  for  an 
unbroken  view  endeavour  to  reach  their  goal  at  an 
early  hour.  Often,  however,  mist  forms  in  the  valleys 
before  sunrise,  not  long  after  which  it  begins  to  rise, 
rolls  up  the  mountain,  and  is  gradually  dissipated. 
The  effect  of  these  delicate  and  filmy,  more  or  less 
diaphanous  veils,  alternately  hiding  and  revealing 
the  spires  of  pines  and  the  broken  ridges  of  rock,  is 
often  singularly  beautiful,  and  they  may  be  seen  in 
unsettled  weather  at  other  times  of  the  day.  But 
too  often  the  clouds  may  remain  almost  at  rest, 
covering  everything  below  a  certain  elevation.  Some- 
times their  top  is  comparatively  level,  above  which 
the  higher  peaks  rise  like  islands  from  a  sea.  I  saw 
this  effect  very  grandly  for  a  time  during  an  ascent 
'  "Clouds,  their  Forms  and  Combinations"  (1873). 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

of  the  Grivola,  everything  below  an  altitude  of  about 
10,000  feet  being   completely  veiled.     A   more  local 
formation  of  this  kind  often  disappoints  the  traveller 
desirous  of  obtaining  a  view  of  the   Italian  lowland 
from  the  crest  of  the  Pennines  near  the  head  of  the 
Visp-thal.    A  cloudless  sky  is  above  him  as  he  mounts 
the  snow-fields  from  the  Swiss  side.     But  on  reaching 
the  crest  he  looks  down  on  a  sea  of  cloud,  veiling  the 
plain  and  converting  the  valleys  beneath  his  feet  into 
fjords.    This  mist  is  so  thin  that,  if  below  it,  he  would 
hardly  recognise  its  presence  ;  but   from  above  it  is 
opaque  enough  to  hide  the  view,   with  perhaps  now 
and   again   a   partial    w^ithdrawal  just  enough    to    be 
tantalising.     I  had  been  at  least  ten  times  on  points 
which  ought  to  have  commanded  this  prospect  before 
I  saw  it  in  full  beauty — that,  from  the  summit  of  the 
Weissmies,    was    a    thing    never    to    be    forgotten. 
The  "Maloja  cloud"  has  a  somewhat  similar  origin. 
Towards  sunset  a  long  tongue  of  white   cloud  pro- 
trudes from   the  south   far  enough  to  be   seen    from 
Pontresina,    the    result   of    a    change    in    the    set   of 
the    vapours,   perhaps   caused  by   a   more    rapid   fall 
of  temperature  on  the  northern  side,  as  the  evening 
is  approaching. 

Occasionally  the  bonnet-cloud,  which  has  been 
mentioned  above,  becomes  a  turban-cloud,  enveloping 
a  single  peak.  I  remember  seeing  a  good  instance 
once  from  the  hut  on  the  Gross  Venediger.  It  com- 
manded a  fine  view  over  the  limestone  mountains  to  the 
north-east,  most  of  which  were  either  wholly  or  very 
nearly  clear ;  but  one  isolated  summit  was  completely 
smothered  in  a  mass  of  cumulus,  which  was  indulging 
in   its  own  little  thunderstorm.     Strangest,  perhaps, 

242 


Alpine  Meteorology 

of  all  is  the  aspect  of  a  '*  cloud  cataract."  I  saw  a 
striking  example  of  this  from  the  Col  de  Vosa  in  July, 
1875.  W^  h3,d  passed  the  previous  night  at  the 
Miage  chalets,  in  the  Allee  Blanche,  whence  we 
had  perceived,  from  the  frequent  flashes  of  light- 
ning and  growls  of  thunder,  that  there  was  a  bad 
storm  somewhere  to  the  north  of  the  Mont  Blanc 
range.  We  crossed  the  Col  de  Miage  in  fair  weather, 
but  when  we  came  in  sight  of  the  limestone  ranges 
to  the  north,  saw  that  atmospheric  disturbances  still 
lingered  in  that  quarter ;  clouds  festooned  or  capped 
their  crags,  which  in  one  place  poured  in  one  great 
Niagara  of  vapour  over  the  mural  precipice  crowning 
a  range.  ^ 

Thunderstorms  are  frequent  in  the  Alps,  as  in  most 
mountain  regions,  and  from  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  as 
Byron  so  graphically  describes, 2  we  may  often  watch 
how 

"  From  peak  to  peak,  the  rattling  crags  among, 

Leaps  the  live  thunder !     Not  from  one   lone  cloud, 
But  every  mountain  now  hath  found  a  tongue, 

And  Jura  answers,  through  her  misty  shroud, 
Back  to  the  joyous  Alps,  who  call  to  her  aloud ! " 

The  Alpine  climber  sometimes  finds  himself  actually 
enveloped  by  a  thunder-cloud.  Such  an  experience, 
near  to  the  Jungfraujoch,  has  been  described  by  the 
late  R.  S.  Watson.3     A  dense  cloud  had  settled  upon 

^  On  approaching  Geneva  a  few  days  afterwards  I  found  the  vines 
had  been  stripped  almost  bare  by  hail,  the  plane-tree  leaves  torn  to 
shreds  at  the  top  and  injured  in  every  exposed  part  below,  and  the 
skylights  in  the  town  generally  shattered. 

^  "  Childe  Harold,"  c.  iii.  92. 

3  Alpine  Journal^  vol.  i.  p.  142. 

243 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

the  pass,   and  snow  was  falling  heavily  as  his  party 
decended    from    it.     "A    loud   peal   of  thunder   was 
heard,   and  shortly  after  I  observed   that   a   strange 
singing    sound,    like    that   of    a   kettle,    was    issuing 
from   my  alpenstock.     We   halted,    and   finding  that 
all    the   axes   and   stocks    emitted   the    same    sound, 
stuck  them  into  the  snow.     The  guide  from  the  hotel 
now  pulled  off  his  cap,  shouting  that  his  head  burned, 
and  his  hair  was  seen  to  have  a  similar  appearance  to 
that  which  it  would  have  presented  had  he  been  on  an 
insulated  stool  under  a  powerful   electrical    machine. 
We  all  of  us  experienced  the  sensation  of  pricking  or 
burning  in  some  part  of  the  body,  more  especially  in 
the  head  and  face ;  my  hair  also  standing  on  end  in 
an  uncomfortable   but   very   amusing    manner.     The 
snow  gave  out  a  hissing  sound,  as  though  a   heavy 
shower  of  rain  were  falling  ;  the  veil    on    the   wide- 
awake of  one  of  the  party  stood  upright  in  the  air, 
and  on  waving  our  hands  the  singing  sound   issued 
loudly  from  the  fingers.     Whenever  a  peal  of  thunder 
was  heard,  the  phenomenon  ceased,  to  be  resumed  before 
its  echoes  had  died  away.     At  times  we  felt  shocks, 
more  or  less  violent,  in  those  portions   of  the  body 
which  were  most  affected.     By  one  of  these  shocks 
my  right   arm    was   paralysed   so   completely   that   I 
could  neither   use    nor   raise  it   for  several    minutes, 
nor  indeed  till  it  had  been  severely  rubbed  by  Claret, 
and  I  suffered  much  pain  in  it  at  the  shoulder-joint 
for   some   hours.      At    half-past    twelve    the    clouds 
began  to   pass    away,    and    the   phenomenon    finally 
ceased,  having  lasted  twenty-five  minutes.     We  saw 
no  lightning." 

Sometimes  these  storms  prove  fatal  to  traveller  or 

244 


Alpine  Meteorology 

guide.      My   friend,    F.    F.    Tuckett,i    with   his    two 
guides,  had  a    narrow  escape   on  the   Roche    Melon 
(ii»593  feet).     They  had  been  caught  on  the  summit 
by  a  thunderstorm,  and  had  taken  shelter  in  the  little 
chapel  just  below  it,  and  while  there  **  every  rock,  every 
loose  stone,  the  uprights  of  the  rude  railing  outside  the 
chapel,  the  ruined  signal,  our  axes,  my  lorgnette  and 
flask,    and  even    my   fingers   and   elbows   set  up  *  a 
dismal,  universal  hiss.'"     During  a  lull  they  had  de- 
scended hurriedly  till  they  were  again  obliged  to  seek 
protection  from  a  yet  more  furious  storm,  in  a  much 
larger  and  more   solidly   built  chapel,    called  the  C^ 
d'Asti,  at  a  height  of  9,396  feet.     They  had  closed 
the  door.     Tuckett  had  seated  himself  on  the  step  of 
the  altar,  the  guides  were  sitting  between  the  window 
and  the  door.     After  five  vivid   flashes,  followed  all 
but  instantaneously  by  sharp,  crackling  thunder,  came 
another  not  quite  so  close,  and  then,   *'  crash !  went 
everything,    it   seemed,    all   at   once.  .  .  .  We    were 
blinded,  deafened,  smothered,  and  struck,  all  in  a  breath. 
The  place  seemed  filled  with  fire ;  our  ears  rang  with 
the  report ;  fragments  of  what  looked  like  incandescent 
matter  rained  down  upon  us  as  though  a  meteorite  had 
burst,  and  a  suffocating  sulphurous   odour — probably 
due  to  the  sudden  production  of  ozone  in  large  quanti- 
ties— almost  choked  us.     For  an  instant  we  reeled  as 
though  stunned,    but   each    sprang   to   his   feet    and 
instantly  made   for   the   door."     Once    outside,    they 
rushed  into  the   nearest   shed.     "  For   the  next   few 
minutes  the  lightning  continued  to  play  about  us  in 
so  awful  a  manner  that  we  were  in  no  mood  to  investi- 
gate the  nature  and  extent  of  our  injuries,"  but  on 
^  Alpine  Journal^  vol.  vii.  p.  192. 
245 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

doing  this  Tuckett  found  his  hat  was  knocked  in,  his 
pockets  filled  with  stones  and  plaster,  and  his  right 
foot  painful  and  bleeding,  where  it  had  been  struck  by 
one  of  these  missiles.  One  guide  had  a  hand  similarly 
hurt,  and  felt  acute  pain  in  the  thighs  ;  the  other,  for  a 
time,  seemed  completely  dazed.  When  the  storm 
drew  off  they  went  back  to  the  chapel  and  found  it  a 
scene  of  ruin.  "  The  lightning  had  evidently  first 
struck  the  iron  cross  outside  and  smashed  in  the  roof, 
dashing  fragments  of  stone  and  plaster  upon  us,  which, 
brilliantly  illuminated,  looked  to  our  dazed  and  con- 
fused vision  like  flakes  of  fiery  matter.  It  had  then 
encountered  the  altar,  overturning  the  iron  cross  and 
wooden  candle-sticks,  only  three  feet  from  the  back  of 
my  head,  as  I  sat  on  the  step,  tearing  the  wreath  of 
artificial  flowers  or  worsted  rosettes,  strung  on  copper 
wire,  which  surrounded  the  figure  of  the  Virgin,  and 
scattering  the  fragments  in  all  directions.  Next  it 
glanced  against  the  wall,  tore  down,  or  otherwise 
damaged,  some  of  the  votive  pictures  (engravings), 
and  splintered  portions  of  their  frames  into  match- 
wood. .  .  .  The  walls  were  in  two  places  cracked  to 
within  5  feet  of  the  ground." 

Winds  more  or  less  local  are  common  in  the 
Alps,  coming  up  and  down  a  valley  at  different 
times  of  the  day,  but  sometimes  a  strong  breeze, 
almost  a  gale,  may  be  blowing  on  the  upper  ridges 
of  the  mountains,  while  their  lower  slopes  are  quite 
undisturbed.  When  the  north  wind  brings  on  a 
clear,  bright  day,  as  it  generally  does,  we  often 
see  a  little  streamer  of  white  spray,  like  an  incipient 
cloud,  drifting  away  from  a  snow-peak.  The  moun- 
tain, as  they  say,  is  smoking  its  pipe — but  it  is  not  one 

246 


Alpine  Meteorology 

of  peace,  for  I  have  more  than  once  known  an 
expedition  beaten  back,  on  a  perfectly  clear  day,  by 
the  force  of  the  wind  and  the  intense  cold. 

More  dangerous  far  than  this  are  those  sudden 
storms  of  wind  and  snow  which  set  in,  often  rather 
suddenly,  generally  at  elevations  of  6,000  feet  or 
more,  in  the  later  part  of  the  year.  Travellers  become 
bewildered,  for  the  air  is  full  of  whirling,  powdery 
snow,  lose  their  way,  and  at  last  sink  down  exhausted 
to  die.  That  fate  befel  two  of  our  countrymen  on 
the  Col  du  Bon- Homme  (7,680  feet),  so  long  ago  as 
1830,  but  the  memory  of  it  has  not  been  lost.  They 
gradually  became  incapable  of  proceeding,  and  their 
guides,  after  having  in  vain  endeavoured  to  urge 
them  on,  were  obliged  to  leave  them  to  their 
fate. 

The  Fohn  is  a  wind  from  the  south,  hot,  stifling, 
and  dry,  supposed  to  come  from  the  deserts  of 
North  Africa.^  The  air  becomes  close  and  stifling  ;  the 
sky  thickens  to  a  muddy,  murky  condition  ;  animals 
become  restless,  and  mankind  is  conscious  of  a  sense  of 
lassitude  and  disquiet.  It  is  unfavourable  to  climbing  ; 
and  in  some  villages,  while  this  wind  is  blowing,  fires 
are  extinguished,  lest  some  chance  spark,  falling  on  the 
dry  wooden  roofs,  should  start  a  blaze,  which  would 
quickly  spread  from  house  to  house.  The  town  of 
Glarus  has  twice  been  greatly  injured  by  a  fire  thus 
begun;    on    the     second    occasion,    May     10,     1861, 

'  The  correctness  of  this  view,  once  generally  entertained,  is 
now  disputed.  A  discussion  of  the  question  will  be  found  in 
Hann's  Handbuch  der  Klimatologie  (3rd  edition),  vol.  i.  p.  296.  Into 
that,  however,  it  is  needless  to  enter ;  its  effects  are  the  same, 
whatever  its  origin.  ' 

247 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

almost  the  whole  was  burnt.  But  in  the  spring  the 
Fohn  makes  atonement  for  its  occasional  misdeeds. 
Before  its  touch  the  winter  snows  disappear  with 
wonderful  rapidity.  Tschudi  says  that  in  the  valley  of 
Grindelwald  a  snow-bed  two  feet  thick  disappears  in 
about  as  many  hours,  and  that  the  Fohn  produces  in 
twenty-four  hours  a  greater  effect  than  the  sun  does 
in  fifteen  days. 

The  peasants  express  their  estimate  of  its  power 
in  a  rather  profane  saying  :  **  If  the  Fohn  does  not 
blow,  the  golden  sun  and  the  good  God  can  do 
nothing  with  the  snow." 

In  fine  weather  the  transparency  of  the  air  is  often 
remarkable.  Though  the  Mediterranean  can  hardly 
be  visible  from  the  summit  of  Monte  Rosa  because 
of  intervening  mountains,  the  Viso  is  clearly  seen 
in  one  direction,  nearly  a  hundred  miles  away,  and 
the  Adamello  in  another  at  more  than  that  distance. 
Mont  Blanc  is  visible  from  Notre  Dame  des  Four- 
vieres,  close  to  Lyons,  across  almost  a  hundred  miles, 
and  I  have  myself  seen  it  from  the  railway  between 
Dijon  and  Macon.  At  first  I  mistook  the  moun- 
tain for  a  cumulus  cloud  low  down  on  the  horizon, 
but  presently  the  shape  became  more  definite  and 
dark  rock  ridges  perceptible,  till  shortly  before  we 
reached  Macon  it  faded  from  view  in  the  twilight. 
The  distance  could  not  anywhere  have  been  less 
than  a  hundred  miles. 

On  a  clear  day  the  blue  of  the  sky,  as  we  ascend 
a  mountain-side,  becomes  deeper,  till  occasionally  it 
appears,  from  one  of  the  higher  summits,  the  colour 
of  a  gentian  flower.  We  look,  through  a  far  thinner 
veil  of  vapour,  to  where,  in  Shelley's  words,  "the  sun's 

248 


Alpine  Meteorology 


unclouded  orb  rolled  through  the  black  concave." ' 
There  is,  I  think,  a  difference  in  the  colour  of  the 
sky  when  regarded  from  lower  positions  on  the  two 
sides  of  the  Alps.  On  the  Swiss  it  is  a  clearer, 
more  ultramarine  tint ;  on  the  Italian  a  little  nearer 
to  a  turquoise  blue.  The  greater  abundance  of 
extremely  minute  particles  of  water,  which  produce, 
nearer  to  the  high  peaks,  the  veil  of  mist  already 
mentioned,  is,  no  doubt  the  cause ;  so  that  it  is 
analogous  with  the  different  hues  of  the  water  in 
the  Swiss  lakes.  In  Brienz,  for  instance,  which 
receives  the  turbid  streams  of  the  Aar  and  the 
Lutschine,  it  is  almost  green  ;  while  the  cleaner  waters 
of  Thun  are  blue.  Lake  Leman  shows  this  change 
in  tint,  when  it  is  followed  from  the  delta  at 
Villeneuve  to  its  southern  end  at  Geneva ;  and  when 
a  small  stream,  accidentally  swollen,  enters  the  clear 
water  in  one  of  the  large  lakes,  we  can  often  see 
a  well-defined  boundary  between  the  one  and  the 
other ;  the  turbid  water  descending  beneath  the 
clear,  like  the  margin  of  a  cumulus  cloud  which  is 
gradually  spreading  beneath  the  surface.  The  muddy 
Arve  and  the  clear  Rhone,  as  has  often  been 
remarked,  flow  side  by  side  for  a  considerable  dis- 
tance without  mingling  their  waters  ;  and  this  is  by 
no  means  the  only  instance.  But  pure  as  the 
latter  may  seem,  as  it  emerges  from  its  pleasant 
purgatory  in  Lake  Leman,  its  tint,  which  is  only 
surpassed  by  the  marvellous  blue  in  some  portions 
of  the  Mediterranean,  is  attributed  to  residual  particles 

»  It  was  well  seen  in  the  ascent  of  Monte  Rosa  by  T.  W.  Hinch- 
liff  ("Summer  Months  in  the  Alps,"  1857,  p.  iii),  and  I  had  the 
same  good  fortune  in   1859,  but  without  the  view  of  Italy. 

249 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

of  almost  infinitesimal  minuteness,  which  are  still 
suspended  in  its  waters.^ 

This  lake  exhibits,  as  indeed  do  some  others, 
curious  disturbances  which  long  ago  attracted  atten- 
tion. These  are  sudden  and  rather  local  oscillations 
of  level,  called  seiches,  where  the  water  rises  and  falls 
for  a  height  of  2  or  3  feet.  It  did  this  on  one 
occasion — in  the  year  1600 — four  times  through  a 
space  of  5  feet.  The  most  probable  explanation 
seems  to  be  inequalities  in  barometric  pressure  on 
different  parts  of  the  surface  of  the  lake.  Sudden 
squalls  are  sometimes  dangerous  on  this  and  other 
lakes,  for  they  may  capsize  sailing-boats  and  raise 
waves  high  enough  to  swamp  small  craft.  Such  a 
squall,  as  we  used  to  read,  afforded  William  Tell 
the  opportunity  of  escape  from  Gesler's  boat  and 
of  subsequently  giving  another  proof  of  his  skill  as 
a  marksman.  But  this,  according  to  a  sceptical  age, 
is  only  legend  posing  as  history. 

The  "mountain  glory"  of  sunrise  or  sunset,  which 
has  now  become  so  familiar  to  all  as  not  to  need 
description,  is  an  indirect  consequence  of  the  presence 
of  aqueous  vapour  in  the  atmosphere,  and  so  too 
is  that  mysterious  "after-glow"  which  is  less  often 
enjoyed.  The  sun  has  set ;  the  last  crimson  hues 
have  disappeared  from  the  highest  peaks ;  their 
snowfields  and  glaciers  stand  out  white  against  the 
darkening  sky  as  though  stricken  with  the  pallor 
of  death,  and  then,  after  an  interval  of  several 
minutes,  we  see  "the  snowy  summits  again  tinted, 
again  recovering  a  kind  of  life.'*     They  once   more 

*  The  subject  is  discussed  in  some  detail  by  Professor  J.  Tyndall 
"  Glaciers  of  the  Alps,"  part  ii.  sections  6  and  7. 

250 


Alpine   Meteorology 

appear  in  relief,  of  a  '*  warmer  tone — a  yellow,  more 
or  less  inclining  to  orange — though  far  more  feeble 
than  it  was  before  sunset.  Again  we  see  the  con- 
trasts between  the  rocks  and  the  snows  disappear ; 
the  former  assume  a  warmer  and  yellower  hue,  and 
are  again  in  harmony  with  the  snow."  The  lower 
slopes  '*  still  retain  the  cold  grey  or  bluish  tint,  which 
previously  had  spread  over  everything  except  the 
snow ;  and  up  to  nightfall  all  the  mountains 
resume  and  retain  the  same  proportions  of  colour, 
of  tints,  of  light  and  shade,  the  same  general  effect 
that  they  had  before  their  discoloration  and  obscure- 
ment."i  This  sometimes  lingers  long,  and  is  due 
to  the  reflection  of  the  red  rays  from  the  surfaces  of 
particles  of  water  in  the  neighbourhood  and  to  the 
west  of  the  zenith,  which,  though  they  may  be  so  fine 
and  transparent  as  to  be  invisible  to  the  eye,  are  quite 
capable  of  reflecting  light. 

The  stars  at  night  often  show  the  clearness  of 
the  mountain  air,  the  number  and  brightness  being 
far  greater  than  we  are  accustomed  to  see  in  our  own 
country.  At  one  of  the  Alpine  haunts,  some  6,000 
feet  above  sea-level,  we  have  only  to  look  up  on  a 
clear  night  to  see  how  the  *'  floor  of  heaven  is  thick 
inlaid  with  patines  of  bright  gold."  2  But  this  may 
sometimes  occur  even  at  a  lower  level.  I  never  saw  a 
more  wonderful  effect  than  from  Bourg  St.  Maurice 
in  the  I  sere  valley,  though  its  altitude  is  only  about 
2,800   feet.       Myriads    of  stars   seemed   to    become 

^  Translated  from  a  long  description  of  sunset  on  Mont  Blanc 
by  M.  Necker  {Annales  de  Chemie  et  de  Physique^  February  and 
March,  1839.     See  "Alpine  Regions,"  pp.   152-57). 

2  "  Merchant  of  Venice,"  Act  V.  sc.  i. 

251 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

dimmer  and  dimmer  in  the  infinitude  of  distance, 
and  on  keeping  the  eyes  steadily  fixed  on  any  one 
spot,  specks  of  light,  dim  and  uncertain  in  position, 
apparently  materialised  out  of  the  darkness.  The 
Milky  Way  also,  brighter  than  I  had  ever  beheld  it 
in  England,  was  like  a  luminous  curdling  spreading  in 
an  irregular  arch  across  the  heavens. 

Such  clearness,  especially  in  the  distant  mountain 
views  by  day,  is  not  always  indicative  of  settled 
fine  weather  ;  but  the  result  is  so  beautiful,  that  one 
may  be  justified  in  taking  no  thought  for  the  morrow. 
Least  promising,  however,  of  all  is  a  warm  night — 
that  often  means  the  approach  of  change  for  the 
worse.  The  mountaineer  in  the  Alps  often  envies 
the  meteorological  conditions  of  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
where,  during  the  summer,  even  a  thunderstorm  is  a 
rarity,  and  the  weather  does  not  break  till  the 
coming  of  winter,  about  which  there  is  no  hesitation. 

The  rainfall  on  the  Alps  is  not  large  compared  with 
that  of  some  mountain  chains.  It  amounts  approxi- 
mately to  31*5  inches  at  Geneva,  to  33*5  inches  at 
Chur,  39  inches  at  Sils,  45  inches  at  Salzburg,  in 
several  places  of  the  Tyrol,  and  at  the  Great  St. 
Bernard,  47-5  inches  at  Zurich,  and  63  inches  at 
Lugano.  In  fact,  its  range  does  not  often  fall 
below  40  inches,  or  rise  above  70  inches.  But 
though  some  months,  as  in  our  own  country,  are 
apt  to  be  rather  wetter  than  others,  precipitation  is 
spread  over  the  whole  year,  so  that  more  than  a 
few  days  of  settled  fine  weather  is  a  rarity.  Thus 
with  the  pleasant  memories  of  climbs  which  have 
been  completely  successful  are  mingled  too  many 
of  those  in  which  the    view    has  been    limited  to  a 

252 


Alpine  Meteorology- 


few  yards  of  impenetrable  mist,  or  the  expedition 
has  had  to  be  abandoned;  or  what  is  still  worse, 
of  days  spent  in  weary  waiting  at  a  comfortless 
mountain  inn  or  a  dark  and  dirty  chalet,  or  even 
beneath  some  sheltering  rock. 

On    the   higher    mountains    the     light   transmitted 
through  the  snow  produces  an  effect  seldom,  if  ever, 
visible  on  the  lowlands.     The  hole  made  by  an  alpen- 
stock or  ice-axe  shows  a  delicate  tint,   varying  from 
a  pale  green  to  blue,  like  that,  though  less  intense, 
of  the  light  in  a  crevasse,  but  sometimes  the  latter 
hue  is  exceptionally  vivid.     Professor  Tyndall  records 
an  instance  on  Monte  Rosa.     In  the  morning,  during 
his  ascent,  he  had  examined  the  holes  made  in  the 
snow    by    the   batons    of    himself    and     his    guide, 
Christian   Lauener,  but  the  light  which  issued  from 
them    was  scarcely   perceptibly    blue.      Snow,    how- 
ever,   had   begun     to    fall    some   time    before    they 
reached  the  summit,  and  had  formed  when  they  left 
a    deep    layer,    which    brought    a    marked    change. 
"  Along   the   kamm,"  he    says,    **  I    was  continually 
surprised  and   delighted   by  the   blue   gleams  which 
issued  from  the  broken  or  perforated  stratum  of  new 
snow ;  each  hole  made   by  the  staff  was  filled  with 
a  light  as  pure,   and  nearly  as  deep,   as  that  of  the 
unclouded  firmament.     When  we  reached  the  bottom 
of  the  kamm,  Lauener  came  to  the  front,  and  tramped 
before  me.     As  his  feet  rose  out  of  the   snow,  and 
shook    the    latter    off    in    fragments,     sudden     and 
wonderful    gleams    of    the   blue   light    flashed   from 
them."  I     Sometimes  also  the  snow  has  shown  actual 
phosphorescence.     Mr.  Thurstan  Holland  records  an 
^  "  Glaciers  of  the  Alps,"  p.  132. 

^53 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

instance,  also  in  new-fallen  snow,  on  the  descent 
from  the  Rauriser  Tauern  to  Heiligen-blut :  "As 
we  were  crossing  one  of  the  patches  of  snow,  1 
observed  that  the  snowy  particles,  which  fell  from 
my  shoes,  appeared  like  a  number  of  bright  phos- 
phorescent sparks."  ^  He  saw  it  also  when  a  companion 
walked  in  front,  and  compared  the  effect,  except  that 
the  sparks  were  of  a  pale  phosphorescent  colour,  to 
that  seen  at  night  when  a  horse  strikes  his  shoe 
against  a  stone.  The  hour  was  late,  for  there  was 
not  light  enough  to  read  their  watches,  and  the  sky 
was  overclouded.  Mr.  Holland  refers  to  instances 
observed  by  other  travellers,  and  the  explanations 
which  had  been  offered,   but  those  we  must  abstain 


from  discussing. 


*  Alpine  Journal^  i.  p.  143. 


254 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE   VEGETATION   OF  THE  ALPS 

A  DESCRIPTION  of  the  Alpine  flora  in  any  detail  would 
be,  to  all  but  botanists,  unless  accompanied  by 
coloured  plates,  little  better  than  a  catalogue  of 
unknown  names.  We  must,  therefore,  not  attempt 
more  than  to  give  a  general  account  of  the  succession 
of  plants  met  with  in  ascending  a  mountain,  and 
illustrate  this  by  choosing  as  examples  those  of  which 
the  genus  at  least  is  likely  to  be  well  known  to  all 
who  take  an  interest  in  the  gardens  and  open  country 
in  our  own  land.  A  further  difficulty  is  the  impos- 
sibility of  making  more  than  general  statements  in 
speaking  of  the  range  of  plants  in  the  Alps.  The 
chain  forms  a  great  barrier  wall  between  Central 
and  Southern  Europe.  Thus,  just  as  an  isthmus 
divides  two  seas,  the  faunas  of  which  may  be  very 
different,  so  the  Alps  part  two  floras,  which  to  a 
considerable  extent  have  spread  from  separate  sources 
and  had  a  different  history.  The  climate  also  is  by 
no  means  the  same  at  corresponding  altitudes  in 
every  district,  as  is  only  to  be  expected  in  a  chain 
which  extends  over  about  lO^  of  longitude  and 
nearly  4°  of  latitude,  with  a  breadth  of  from  loo  to 
1 20  miles.  The  vegetation  of  the  transverse  valleys 
south  of  the  Pennine  range  enjoys,  as  can  be  seen 

255 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

at  a  glance,  a  more  genial  climate  than  that  of  corre- 
sponding valleys  on  the  north,  and  the  same  is  true, 
to  take  a  special  example,  of  corresponding  parts  in 
the  Val  d'Aoste  and  the  valley  of  the  Rhone.     We 
realise    the  change    in   passing  from    north    to  south 
through  one  of  the  great  tunnels  beneath  the  Alpine 
watershed,  and  most  of  all  in  that  under  the  Simplon 
Pass.    At  Brieg  pinewoods  dominate  in  the  view,  and 
there  is  a  certain  sternness    in    the   landscape.     We 
emerge,  though  it  is  a  rocky  glen,  among  luxuriant 
brushwood,   deciduous  trees  holding  their  own  with 
the  pines,  and  by  the  time  we  have  reached  the  same 
level    as   that   of  Sierre   on    the    northern    side   find 
Spanish    chestnuts   and    mulberries,    figs   and    maize 
to  be  flourishing  around  us.     Thus  the  range  of  any 
group  of  mountain  plants  is  distinctly  higher  on  the 
southern   than  on  the  northern  side  of  the  chain — 
the  difference    in   extreme    cases   (not    including   the 
Maritime   Alps)   being    not    much    less    than    i,ooo 
feet.    The  nature  of  the  rock,  the  aspect  of  the  place, 
the    proximity   or   absence    of    large   snowfields,    all 
produce  an   effect,   so   that   numerical   statements  in 
the  following  remarks  can  only  be  approximate,  and 
will    be  more   accurate  in  some   parts  of   the   chain 
than   in   others. 

The  height  of  the  lowland  from  which  the  Alps 
definitely  begin  to  rise  is  from  about  1,300  to  2,000 
feet  along  their  northern  face,  perhaps  rather  lower 
on  their  western,  and  generally  less  than  1,000  feet 
on  their  southern  one.  Thus  the  flora  on  the  margin 
of  the  mountains  corresponds  with  that  of  the  adjacent 
lowland  ;  that  is  to  say,  of  the  neighbouring  parts  of 
Central  Europe.    As  we  rise  above  sea-level,  the  plants 

256 


The  Vegetation  of  the  Alps 

characteristic  of  an  upland  region  make  their  appear- 
ance, and  we  pass  from  zone  to  zone  till  a  height  is 
reached  where  vegetation  is  stunted  and  plants  begin 
to  be  found  which,  in  arctic  regions,  are  growing  at 
the  sea-level.  On  the  northern  side  of  the  Alps  the 
lowland  zone  gradually  ends  at  an  altitude  of  about 
2,500  feet.  In  it  the  vine  does  well,  orchards  flourish, 
and  the  larger  fruit  trees  generally  are  abundant ; 
maize  can  ripen  and  the  ordinary  cereals  bring  good 
returns.  Outside  the  mountains  vines  clothe  the 
hillsides ;  within  them,  however,  they  soon  disappear 
from  the  slopes  of  valleys  on  all  but  the  most  favourable 
aspects.  In  the  Valais,  for  instance,  the  grape  ripens 
well  up  to  quite  2,000  feet.  Maize  may  be  found  at 
a  rather  greater  elevation,  and  wheat  sometimes 
grows  at  levels  above  4,000  feet,  but  only  in  very 
favourable  positions,  for  it  seldom  ripens  a  good  crop 
beyond  3,000  feet.  "  The  general  line  of  cultivation  in 
the  Alps  may  be  placed  between  2,700  and  3,000  feet, 
though  there  are  naturally  many  exceptions  to  this."' 
As  we  rise  in  the  mountain  regions  towards  4,000  feet, 
the  more  delicate  fruit-bearing  trees  speedily  follow 
the  vine  and  maize  ;  and  though  the  walnut  flourishes 
as  a  foliage  tree  almost  up  to  this  limit,  it  has  ceased 
to  ripen  its  fruit.  Deciduous  trees  gradually  give 
place  to  conifers,  and  among  the  former  the  birch 
predominates.  A  change  is  also  to  be  noticed  in  the 
flowering  plants  ;  the  more  delicate  representatives  of 
the  lowlands  disappearing  and  the  precursors  of  the 
hardier  mountain  vegetation  beginning  to  assert  them- 
selves. But,  as  we  have  already  said,  the  change  is  more 
slowly  perceptible  on  the  southern  side  of  the  chain. 

'  Morell,  "Scientific  Guide  to  Switzerland,"  p.  194. 

257  R 


The   Building   of  the   Alps 

Here  the  vine  is  cultivated  up  to  about  3,300  feet ;  ^ 
the  Spanish  chestnut  ranges  nearly  as  high,  and  is  a 
handsome  tree  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  Pennine  valleys 
at  elevations  not  greatly  below  3,000  feet.  Among 
the  shrubs  the  barberry  [Berberis  vulgaris)  and  the 
sallow-thorn  {Hippopkae  rhamnoides),  with  its  silvery 
leaves  and  bright  orange  berries,  are  abundant  on 
the  stony  tracts  in  the  neighbourhood  of  torrents  ; 
the  Dane's-blood  elder  {Sambzccus  ebulus)  is  common  ; 
wild  currants  and  gooseberries  are  not  rare.  The  alpine 
strawberry,  raspberry,  and  a  second  species  [Rubus 
saxatilis)  which  is  of  lower  growth  and  has  a  small 
pleasantly  acid  fruit,  make  their  appearance,  together 
with  the  bilberry  ( Vaccinium  myrtillus),  and  the 
cowberry  ( V.  vitis-idcea),  which  range  up  to  at  least 
6,000  feet.  Among  the  flowering  plants,  gentians 
become  conspicuous  on  the  grassy  mountain  sides  ; 
such  as  the  handsome  yellow  one  (Gentiana  luted) 
and  the  purple  (6^.  purpurea),  and  most  beautiful  of 
all,  the  G,  asclepiadea,  which  I  have  but  rarely  seen, 
though  it  grows  well  on  the  Rock  Garden  at  Kew. 
At  this  and  lower  levels  the  pale-lilac  field  gentian, 
G.  campestris,  abounds,  as  in  some  parts  of  our  own 
country.  With  the  first  and  second  we  often  find 
Veratrum  album,  handsome  and  rather  similar  in 
growth,  but  less  effective  in  flower.  The  purple 
monkshood  {Aconitum  napellus)  becomes  common  ; 
I  remember  to  have  seen  it  in  abundance  for  the 
first  time  near  the  Devil's  Bridge,  which  unhappily 
tumbled   down    into   the    Reuss   over    twenty    years 

^  On  the  northern  side  the  vine  is  grown,  as  in  Germany,  almost 
like  a  raspberry-bush.  On  the  southern  it  is  often  trained  over  a 
framework  supported  by  posts,  much  as  in  a  greenhouse. 

258 


The  Vegetation  of  the  Alps 

ago.  I  The  far  more  beautiful  large  blue  larkspur 
{^Delphinium  alpimim)  may  also  be  found,  but  it 
is  a  rarity.  Saxifrages,  often  such  graceful  flowers, 
become  common ;  the  finest  of  them  (which  also 
ranges  rather  higher)  being  S,  cotyledon  ;  and  its  spiral 
group  of  delicate  white  flowers  often  exceeds  a  foot 
in  height.  It  is  a  very  cautious  plant,  usually  growing 
on  cliffs  or  in  ravines  that  are  quite  inaccessible,  as 
if  it  knew  that  its  beauty  would  attract  the  spoiler. 
Yet  the  finest  I  ever  saw,  nearly  2  feet  in  height, 
was  growing  close  to  the  road  going  up  the  Gad- 
menthal  to  the  Stein  Glacier.  More  than  one  species 
of  stonecrop  (Sedum)  and  of  houseleek  {Sempervivum)^ 
two  of  thyme  [Thymus),  with  bedstraws  [Galium),  and 
clovers  [Trifolium)  are  common,  and  we  may  find  the 
dark  columbine  [Aquilegia  atrata),  the  Grass  of  Par- 
nassus, and  the  attractive  cream-coloured  foxglove 
[Digitalis  lutea).  The  pretty  little  cyclamen  [Cyclamen 
EuropcBum)  is  abundant  in  the  Salzkammergut  and 
occasional  (so  far  as  I  know)  in  Switzerland.  Much 
more  rare  is  the  lady's -slipper  [Cypripedium  calceola), 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  Alpine  plants. 
Harebells  [Campanula)  of  two  or  three  kinds  are 
abundant ;  some  of  the  larger  species,  together  with 
campions  [Lychnis),  the  pink  Persicaria,  and  other 
plants,  more  or  less  familiar  in  aspect,  converting  the 
valley-meadows,  for  another  1,000  feet,  into  veritable 
flower-beds,  which  perhaps  delight  the  traveller  more 
than  they  improve  the  hay.  Of  these  harebells,  a 
pretty  one,  rather  less  than  a  foot  in  height,  C.  barbata, 
appears  within  this  zone,  but  like  not  a  few  other 
flowers  is  more  characteristic  of  the  next  one. 

^  In  1888. 
259 


The    Building  of  the   Alps 

This,  which  may  be  regarded  as  bringing  us  well 
into  the  true  Alpine  flora,  extends  from  4,000  to  6,000 
feet.  Here  two  species  of  pink  rhododendron  {^Rhodo- 
dendron ferrugineum  and  the  less  common  R.  hirsutum) 
cover  the  mountain  side  with  an  even  richer  tint  than 
the  heath  and  heather  of  our  own  land.  These,  by 
the  way,  are  not  generally  abundant  in  the  Alps. 
Another  and  much  smaller  species,  which  at  first  sight 
would  hardly  be  supposed  to  belong  to  the  same 
genus,  R.  chamcecistMS,  is  common  in  parts  of  the 
Eastern  Alps.  The  golden-ball,  Trollius  EuropcBus, 
to  be  found  in  our  Welsh  valleys,  is  plentiful.  The 
martagon  lily  [Lilium  martagon)  is  often  seen,  and 
more  rarely  the  orange  lily  (Z.  bulbiferum),  of  which 
I  saw  more  than  ever  before  in  July,  191 1,  on  the  way 
from  Airolo  to  the  Val  Piora.  The  genus  Sedum 
continues  to  be  represented  on  walls  and  rocks.  So 
does  the  Primula,  but  the  most  richly  coloured  species 
ends  its  flowering  before  July,  and  only  the  delicate 
pink-coloured  oxi^{P,farinosd)  is  still  abundant  on  damp 
ground.  The  delicate  St.  Bruno's  lily  {Antkericum 
liliago)  becomes  commoner  as  we  approach  the  upper 
limit  of  this  zone,  but  I  have  only  once  seen  it  in 
great  abundance,  and  that  was  on  some  pastures  at 
the  base  of  the  Marmolata,  on  the  way  from  the 
Sottaguda  gorge  to  the  chalets  of  the  Fedaia  Alp. 
The  narcissus  [N,  poeticus)  with  two  other  species 
seems  to  range  far.  According  to  Ruskin  the  hill 
meadows  above  Vevey  in  spring-time  rival  in  whiteness 
the  snows  of  the  Dent  du  Midi,  but  as  I  have  never 
been  able  to  visit  the  Alps  at  that  season  I  have  but 
once  seen  it  in  its  glory.  This  was  on  the  Col  du 
Lautaret   (6,808    feet),    where  it  grew   as  thickly  on 

260 


The  Vegetation  of  the  Alps 

the  upper  pastures  as  the  daffodil  in  some  meadows 
or  dells  in  England,  where  the  plunderer  of  flowers 
can  be  kept  at  bay.^  Very  pretty,  but  rather  rare,  is 
the  pale  purple  Alpine  clematis  {C.  alpina),  and  the 
more  beautiful  blue  columbine  [Aquilegia  alpina), 
which  occurs  in  small  and  rather  widely  separated 
colonies. 

For  a  thousand  feet  or  more  above  the  6,000  feet 
limit  we  find  ourselves  on  a  zone  where  the  flowers 
are  distinctly  Alpine,  and  have  not  begun  to  diminish' 
very  notably  in  the  number  of  species.  Pinks  of 
three  or  four  species,  in  colour  varying  from  a  dull 
crimson  to  a  pale  mauve,  have  continued  from  the 
lower  limit  of  mountain  plants.  The  genus  Ranunculus 
is  well  represented  by  more  than  one  conspicuous 
white-flowered  species,  and  the  primrose-coloured  ane- 
mone {A.  sulfurea)  is  at  home  over  the  above- 
mentioned  zone.  I  have  met  with  them  in  many 
places,  but  never  so  abundant  as  on  the  slopes  of  the 
Heuthal  near  Pontresina,  and  on  those  descending 
from  the  Furka  Pass  direct  to  Gletsch.  In  July, 
before  the  cattle  come  up,  the  Alpine  pastures  over 
this  zone  are  in  perfection.  The  denser  pine-woods 
have  been  passed  ;  the  trees  are  not  seldom  stunted, 
and  frequently  quite  scattered.  The  Alpine  flowers 
have  no  other  competitors  than  themselves  in  the 
struggle  for  existence.  Few  of  them  are  large — it 
is  not  often  that  we  find  one  rising  more  than  about 
6  inches  above  the  ground,  though  the  yellow  arnica 
{^A.  montand)  overtops   its  neighbours — but  most  of 

^  As  this  was  in  1887,  and  I  did  not  preserve  a  specimen,  I  cannot 
say  more  than  that  it  was  not  N.  poeticus,  the  only  species  then 
known  to  me. 

261 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

them  are  bright-coloured.  In  summer  I  know  no  place 
richer  in  flowers  at  this  season  than  the  slopes  around 
the  Lago  Ritom.  The  air  is  scented  by  the  blossoms 
of  that  lowly  shrub  Daphne  striata,  for  which  in  many 
places  we  may  seek  in  vain.  The  turf  is  spangled 
with  the  purple  and  gold  Alpine  aster  {^A.  alpimis) 
and  the  smaller  but  rather  similar  Erigeron  alpinus, 
which  extends  lower  down,  with  a  species  of  ox-eyed 
daisy  {Chrysanthemum  alpinum)y  which  has  a  wide 
range.  So  also  has  the  avens  [Dry as  octopetald)^ 
with  its  flower  of  delicate  white,  which  seems  to 
flourish  best  on  slightly  uneven  ground.  There  is 
the  yellow  mountain  geum  {G.  montanum),  with 
sundry  smaller  flowers  of  that  tint,  such  as  Potentilla 
and  Senecio.  That  also  is  the  colour  of  the  little 
Viola  biflora ;  but  far  more  conspicuous  is  the  larger 
purple  pansy  (  Vio/a  calcarata\  sometimes  so  abundant 
as  to  give  a  tint  to  the  herbage.  There  are  gentians 
— the  deep  blue  bells  of  G.  acaulisy  the  clustered 
flowers  of  the  low-growing  G.  verna,  often  so  close 
together  as  to  form  patches,  a  hand's-breadth  wide, 
of  the  richest  ultramarine,  besides  one  or  two  smaller 
species,  among  which  the  little  snow  gentian  {G. 
nivalis)  begins  to  be  seen.  Along  with  it  appears  the 
rich  pink  of  the  little  mountain  campion  [Lychnis 
alpina)y  and  the  delicate  soldanella  {S.  alpina),  which 
may  be  seen  springing  up  on  the  track  of  the  melting 
snow,  through  which  its  pale  lilac  flower  contrives 
sometimes  to  force  a  passage.  Hardly  less  prompt  in 
greeting  the  unveiling  of  the  sun  is  an  anemone  {A. 
Halleri)y  with  flowers  of  slightly  darker  tint  and  woolly 
exterior,  which  is  followed  by  other  species,  including 
more  than  one  of  ranunculus.     Of  the  orchis  group, 

262 


The  Vegetation  of  the  Alps 

which  is  well  represented  on  the  lower  slopes,  the  little 
nigritelle   {JV.  angustifolia)  soon  attracts  notice  with 
its    deep    red-purple    flower    and    odour   of    vanilla. 
There  is  also  the  forget-me-not  {Myosotis  alpind),  the 
turquoise-blue  of  its  flower  even  richer  than  that  of 
the  lowland  species.     Of  the  pink  flowers  the  soap- 
wort  {S,  ocymoides)  has  come  up  from  a  lower  level, 
and  at  least  one  species  of  Dianthus  still  flourishes, 
yet  more  richly  tinted  than  it  was  below.     There  will 
be  found,  as  have  been  for  some  distance,  more  than 
one  species  of  the  offensively  named  louse-wort  {Pedicu- 
laris) ;  but  most  effective  of  all  is  the  moss-campion 
{Silene  acaulis),  the  low-growing  flowers  of  which  are 
so    closely  set   as   sometimes    to   form   an    unbroken 
patch  of  delicate  pink  nine  or  ten  inches  in  diameter. 
In   stony  places    we   have   seen  for   some    time   the 
pink  blossom    of  the  dwarf  willow-herb   {Epilobium 
Fleischeri),   and    the   little   creeping  Alpine  toadflax 
{Linaria  alpina),  with  its  purple  and  yellow  flower, 
together  with  the  Alpine  cress,  small  in  size  and  in 
flower,  all  which  are  among  the  first  to  find  a  home  on 
the  dry  debris  of   moraines.      At  this  elevation  the 
edelweiss  {Gnaphalium  leontopodiurn)  is  at  home,  but 
it  may  also  be  gathered  below  it,  like  the  commoner 
European  species  {G.  dioicum),  which  seems  capable 
of    accommodating     itself    to    a    vertical     range    of 
quite    7,000    feet.       The  edelweiss  is  a  plant  which, 
though    found    in   almost    every   part    of    the    Alps, 
is   distinctly   local    in   occurrence,   and   its    range,  as 
a   rule,    is    from   about    5,000   to    7,000   feet.      The 
popular  idea  that  it  prefers  to  grow  where  life  must 
be    risked    in   gathering   it   is   an    illusion.      It   may, 
no    doubt,  be    found    in    such    places,    and    there    of 

263 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

course  it    will    linger    the    longest ;    but  I   have    sel- 
dom, if  ever,    come   across    it    in    any    difficult  part 
of  a  mountain  ascent.      It    grows,  or  did  grow — for 
probably    the    tourist    has    exterminated    it — on    the 
stony  slope  leading  to  the  Triftbach  Fall,  above  Zer- 
matt ;  in  a  similar  place,  almost  as  easy  of  access  from 
Saas  Grund,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  valley,  and  in 
like  positions,  in  each  of  the  other  Pennine  valleys  to 
the  west.      I   found  it  plentifully,   some  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  on  the  grassy  alp  within  a  short  walk  of 
the  Tosa  Falls  Inn  (5,490  feet),  but  I  have  never  seen 
it  so  abundant   as   on  a  ridge  of  the  Pizzo  Ucello, 
above  San  Bernardino.     This  was  a  mixture  of  rough 
grass  and  small  projecting  edges  of  rock,  along  which 
any  one  could  walk,  and  on  this  broken  ground,  which 
I   believe  to  be  its  favourite    habitat,   edelweiss  was 
growing  almost  as  commonly  as  daisies  in  a  meadow. 
It  is  a  quaint  rather  than  a  pretty  flower,  but  as  it 
has  become  the  centre  of  a  group  of  legends,  it  finds 
a  ready  sale  among  ordinary  tourists,   and  is  hunted 
down  by  those  who  make  a  living  out  of  them.     Thus, 
like  others  of  the  more  interesting  members  of  the 
Alpine  flora,  it  is  becoming  scarcer ;  but  the  protec- 
tion of  the  law  may  save  it  from  extinction. 

A  change  gradually  appears  in  the  character  of 
the  flowering  plants  as  we  approach  and  pass  the 
level  of  7,000  feet.  They  are  only  represented  by 
dwarfed  forms,  of  which  the  most  noteworthy  is  the 
lowly  Azalea  procumbens,  with  its  tiny  pink  flowers, 
which  has  been  already  found  for  some  distance.  The 
moss-campion  continues,  but  seems  to  become  more 
conscious  of  a  struggle  for  existence,  and  its  place 
is   taken   by  a  species   of  Androsace   {^A,  helvetica)  ^ 

264 


The  Vegetation  of  the  Alps 

similar  in  habit,  but  paler  in  colour,  though  hardly 
less  beautiful.  Of  the  gentians,  the  little  G.  nivalis 
still  continues,  as  well  as  some  sturdy  louse-worts,  and 
a  new  species  of  ranunculus  i^R.  glacialis)  becomes 
common.  Rather  procumbent  in  its  habit  of  growth, 
with  cup-shaped  flowers,  white  within  and  pinkish 
outside,  it  seems  able  to  flourish  on  any  stony  ground, 
provided  that  be  rather  moist.  The  little  purple  saxi- 
frage {S.  oppositifolid)  is  quite  at  home,  and  some  of 
the  smaller  harebells  are  occasionally  seen,  but  seldom 
in  any  quantity,  perhaps  the  most  noteworthy  being 
C  cenisia  and  the  more  restricted  C.  excisa,  both 
found  in  the  upper  part  of  the  main  valley  above  Saas. 
The  little  Eritrichium  nanum,  with  its  lovely  azure- 
blue  flower,  so  delicately  scented,  now  becomes  locally 
common,  and  ranges  high.  I  have  found  it  very 
plentiful  in  positions  on  either  side  of  9,000  feet ;  for 
instance,  on  the  upper  part  of  the  descent  from  the 
Piz  Languard  into  the  Heuthal,  near  the  Hotel  Weiss- 
horn  and  below  the  summit  of  the  Mittaghorn,  above 
Saas,  on  the  rocks  under  the  Corner  Grat  and  on  the 
Italian  side  of  the  Col  de  Sea,  in  the  last  three  cases 
at  about  10,000  feet.  But  flowering  plants  become 
sparse  and  rare,  at  any  rate  on  the  northern  side  of 
the  watershed,  when  we  approach  the  former  limit, 
though  now  and  again  they  maintain  themselves  at 
great  elevations.  I  found  Androsace  glacialis,  a  louse- 
wort,  and  another  plant  in  flower  on  the  Col  de  Sea 
at  10,115  feet;  the  same  Androsace  with  Saxifraga 
bryoides  on  the  summit  of  Mont  Emilius  (11,677 
feet),  Campanula  cenisia  on  the  Grivola,  just  over 
12,000  feet,  and  at  about  the  same  elevation  Mr. 
J.  B.  Masterman  came  upon  Saxifraga  oppositifolia, 

265 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

A  tuft  of  an  Androsace  which  I  saw  on  the  Matter- 
horn  was  perhaps  rather  above  this  level.  ^ 

The  Alpine  trees  claim  a  little  more  notice  than 
they  have  as  yet  received.  Those  with  deciduous 
leaves  are  gradually  replaced  by  conifers,  though 
the  larch,  which  satisfies  both  conditions,  is  abundant 
on  the  mountain  slopes,  and  it  extends  up  them, 
in  round  numbers,  from  4,000  to  7,000  feet.  It 
does  well  up  to  about  6,000  feet,  and  specimens 
may  occasionally  be  seen  over  100  feet  high 
and  4  or  5  feet  in  diameter  3  or  4  feet  from  the 
ground.  Growing  both  with  the  larch  and  alone, 
the  common  spruce  {Pinus  abies)  abounds  in  the 
Alps.  '*  Perhaps  it  is  nowhere  more  beautiful  than 
in  the  limestone  zone,  which  extends  along  the 
northern  face  of  the  Alps  from  Savoy  to  the  Tyrol, 
where  the  vast  sweeps  of  purple  forests,  broken  here 
and  there  with  exquisitely  green  alps,  and  surmounted 
by  grand  crags,  offer  some  of  the  most  beautiful  com- 
binations of  wild  and  pastoral  scenery  that  can  be 
conceived."  2  Ruskin's  word-picture  of  these  groves 
is  so  accurate  that  it  ought  to  be  quoted. 3  *' Other 
trees  show  their  trunks  and  twisting  boughs,  but  the 
pine,  growing  in  either  luxuriant  mass  or  in  happy 
isolation,  allows  no  branch  to  be  seen.  Summit 
behind  summit  rises  in  pyramidal  ranges,  or  down 
to  the  very  grass  sweep  the  circlets  of  its  boughs  ; 

'  On  Mont  Emilius  and  the  Grivola  the  plants  were  named  by 
my  companion,  the  late  W.  Mathews,  an  excellent  botanist. 
Ranunculus  glacialis  yfdiS  iound  on  the  Schreckhorn  at  11,000  feet, 
and  Cherleria  sedoides  on  Monte  Rosa  at  1 1,770  feet  (Morell,  ut  supra^ 
p.  211). 

2  "Alpine  Regions,"  p.  211. 

3  "  Modern  Painters,"  vol.  v.  p.  84. 

266 


The  Vegetation  of  the  Alps 

so  that  there  is  nothing  but  green  cone  and  green 
carpet.  Nor  is  it  only  softer,  but  in  one  sense  more 
cheerful,  than  other  foliage ;  for  it  casts  only  a 
pyramidal  shadow.  Lowland  forest  arches  over- 
head, and  chequers  the  ground  with  darkness ;  but 
the  pine,  growing  in  scattered  groups,  leaves  the 
glades  between  emerald  bright.  Its  gloom  is  all 
its  own  ;  narrowing  into  the  sky,  it  lets  the  sunshine 
strike  down  to  the  dew.  And  if  ever  a  superstitious 
feeling  comes  over  me  among  the  pine-glades,  it  is 
never  tainted  with  the  old  German  forest  fear ;  but  is 
only  a  more  solemn  tone  of  the  fairy  enchantment 
that  haunts  our  English  meadows." 

In  the  Dolomite  region  of  the  Tyrol  and  in 
Carinthia  the  pine  has  a  more  tapering  growth, 
which  has  been  attributed  to  the  practice  of  cropping 
the  side  branches  to  obtain  winter  fodder  for  the 
cattle.  But,  after  frequently  examining  these  trees 
during  my  earlier  journeys,  I  think  the  form  is  a 
natural  one,  though  how  far  it  is  an  improvement 
on  the  scenery  is  open  to  question.  Occasionally 
their  branches  droop  to  a  much  greater  extent  than 
in  the  ordinary  kind,  for  they  *'  bend  round  rather 
sharply  a  few  inches  from  the  bole,  and  slope  down 
almost  parallel  with  it,  curving  slightly  upwards  near 
the  extremity.  I  passed  through  a  wood  of  such 
trees  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Tre  Croci  Pass  (Val 
Auronzo),  some  of  which  were  veritable  giants  ;  lower 
down  they  assumed  their  usual  growth.  I  also 
noticed  that  the  larches  in  this  neighbourhood 
appeared  to  have  their  side  branches  comparatively 
small." '  Less  common  is  the  silver  fir  {P.  picea), 
^  "Alpine  Regions,"  p.  212. 
267 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

which  is  more  abundant  in  the  lowlands  and  on  the 
Jura ;  in  fact,  it  seldom  extends  above  5,000  feet, 
though  in  the  Pennines  it  has  been  found  about 
1,000  feet  higher.  In  general  appearance  it 
resembles  the  spruce,  but  can  be  easily  distinguished 
by  the  silvery  tint  of  its  bark  and  on  the  under 
side  of  its  leaf  Not  less  beautiful  than  either  of 
these,  though  more  sporadic  in  habit,  is  the 
arolla,  or  arve  {P.  cembra),  with  its  dark  green  and 
densely  clustered  foliage.  **  A  well-grown  arolla 
is  from  50  to  80  feet  high,  the  circumference  of 
the  trunk  a  little  above  the  ground  being  a 
dozen  feet  or  so.  The  cone  contains  some  twenty 
or  thirty  little  nuts  with  a  white  kernel,  which 
has  a  pleasant  taste,  resembling  that  of  an  almond, 
but  slightly  resinous."  It  is  evidently  attractive 
to  the  nutcracker.^ 

The  Scotch  fir  [Pinus  silvestris)  is  also  sporadic  m 
distribution,  but  locally  abundant,  and  has  about  the 
same  range  as  the  silver  fir.  A  forest  of  it  extends 
for  a  considerable  distance  along  the  valley  of  the 
Rhone  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Sierre,  and  ascends 
the  steep  slope  towards  the  entrance  of  the  Val 
d'Anniviers.  In  this  mistletoe,  which  in  the  low- 
lands is  freely  parasitic  on  the  usual  trees,  grows 
abundantly.  A  pine  of  curious  habit,  called  knie- 
holz  or  latschen  in  German,  and  P.  pumilio  by 
botanists,  appears  in  the  Engadlne,  and  becomes 
abundant  eastwards,  especially  in  the  Dolomite 
region.  It  trails  along  the  ground  often  for  some 
yards  (downhill  if  on  a  slope) ;  **  then  it  rises  in  a 
bold,  sweeping  curve,   throwing  out  branches  which 

^  "Alpine  Regions,"  p.  213. 
268 


The  Vegetation  of  the  Alps 

all  point  sharply  upwards,  till  their  extremities  are 
nearly  vertical  .  .  .  the  long  snake-like  trailing  trunk, 
of  a  reddish-brown  colour,  does  not  throw  off  any 
important  branches  .  .  .  the  upper  part  forms  a  bushy 
shrub,  from  5  to  1 5  feet  high  ;  hence,  so  a  dwarf-pine 
scrub  generally  a  little  overtops  a  man's  head."  ^ 
Thus  it  is  often  a  nuisance  to  the  rambler,  for  the 
bottle-brush  tops  become  a  natural  chevaux-de-frise 
when  he  is  ascending,  and  the  slippery  trailing  stems 
are  apt  to  bring  him,  during  a  descent,  into  a  sitting 
position  more  promptly  than  is  pleasant. 

Two  junipers  are  common  in  most  districts.  The 
dwarf  variety  [Juniperus  nana)  of  the  well-known 
shrub,  from  the  berries  of  which  schiedam  is  made, 
grows  on  stony  tracts,  forcing  its  way  almost  to  the 
limit  of  the  snow,  for  I  have  seen  it  in  fair  quantity 
on  the  flank  of  the  Pelvoux  at  about  7,300  feet, 
and  yet  1,000  feet  higher  by  the  side  of  the  Glacier 
Blanc  in  Dauphine.  It  was  welcome  in  both  places, 
as  it  provided  fuel  for  a  bivouac  fire,  with,  however, 
the  drawback  that  its  smoke  is  remarkably  pungent. 
The  other  species  (y.  sabina)  is  more  local  in  its 
habits,  but  by  no  means  rare.  It  appears  to  occupy 
a  lower  zone,  and  is  a  more  graceful  shrub,  '*  covering 
the  slope  with  its  long  curving  boughs  ;  not  hard  and 
rough,  as  with  purpose  obstinate  though  often  baffled, 
but  lissom  and  undulating.  .  .  .  The  leafage,  too,  is 
not  bristly,  coarse,  grey,  and  dull  in  colour,  but  full, 
rich,  and  green,  more  like  that  of  a  procumbent 
cypress."  2 

Ferns  are  common  in  most  parts  of  the  Alps  (least 
so,  perhaps,  in  the  northern  valleys  of  the  Pennines), 
'  Id.^  p.  214.  ""  Id.,  p.  216. 

269 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

and  the  majority  are  identical  with  those  of  Great 
Britain,  but  some  of  those  which  are  very  rare  with 
us  are  common  in  the  Alps.  A  few  species  make 
their  way  nearly  up  to  the  snow-line,  but  others  are 
limited  to  the  lowest  slopes.  The  least  adventurous 
is  the  delicately  graceful  maiden-hair  Adiantum 
Capillus- Veneris,  which  I  have  seen  only  in  two  or 
three  of  the  Italian  valleys.  It  grows  near  Orta  and 
Varallo,  being  plentiful  on  the  descent  to  the  latter 
place  from  the  Col  de  Colma  (3,091  feet),  so  that  it 
must  be  able  to  stray  up  from  the  Mediterranean 
to  not  very  much  below  this  elevation.  The  king 
fern  {Osmunda  regalis),  stately  as  its  name  implies, 
also  keeps  to  the  lower  valleys.  Of  the  genus 
LastrcEa,  to  which  some  of  our  commonest  and 
handsomest  English  ferns  belong,  most  of  them  do 
not  range  very  high,  L.  rigida  and  the  sweet- 
scented  L.  oreopteris  going  above  the  others.  The 
lady  fern  {Athyrium  Jilix-femind)  with  Polystichum 
aculeatum  and  angulare  also  frequent  the  lower 
regions  ;  but  the  holly  fern  (/*.  lonchitis)  is  abundant 
over  all  parts  from  5,000  to  8,000  feet,  though  it 
seems  to  flourish  better  in  the  limestone  than  in  the 
crystalline  districts.  In  the  former,  wherever  the 
rock  has  been  worn  into  channels,  it  nestles  in  them, 
sending  up  fronds,  which  are  often  quite  half  a  yard 
in  length.  The  parsley  fern  {A/losorus  crispus)  is 
also  a  mountain-lover,  and  ascends  almost  as  high 
as  the  last  one,  but  perhaps  is  more  at  home  on  the 
crystalline  rocks. 

The  common  brake  {Pteris  aquilind)  is  confined 
to  the  lower  slopes  ;  so  is  the  hart's-tongue  {Scolopen- 
drium  vulgare),  and  the  little  Grammitis  ceterach  with 

270 


The  Vegetation   of  the   Alps 

its  scaly  leaves.  The  genus  Polypodium  is  repre- 
sented by  its  English  species,  with  an  additional  one 
P,  rhceticum  in  the  district  from  which  its  distinctive 
name  is  taken,  and  they  range  up  to  near  the  limit 
of  trees.  The  beech-fern  [P.  phegopteris)  and  the 
oak- fern  (/*.  dryopteris)  are  abundant  and  so  is  the 
limestone-fern  (/*.  calcareum)^  on  the  rocks  from 
which  it  is  named.  Another  and  larger  species 
P.  alpestre,  which  does  not  descend  so  low  as  the 
others,  is  commoner  than  is  generally  supposed,  but 
so  much  resembles  the  lady  fern  as  to  be  easily  over- 
looked. The  spleen-worts  {Asplenium)  are  well  repre- 
sented, besides  having  in  the  Eastern  Alps  two 
species  which  are  not  British.  A.  lanceolatum  and 
A.  fontanum,  both  of  which  are  rare  with  us,  are  local 
in  Switzerland  ;  the  latter,  which  some  think  ought 
not  to  be  included  in  British  lists,  is  fairly  abundant 
in  certain  limited  areas ;  as,  for  instance,  in  the 
Combe  de  Malaval  (Dauphine),  between  St.  Laurent 
du  Pont  and  the  Grande  Chartreuse,  at  Les  Etroits 
du  Ciel  (above  Moutiers)  in  the  Isere  valley  and  on 
the  way  to  Sepey  in  the  Val  des  Ormonds.  The 
black  maiden-hair  {A.  adiantum-nigrurn)  is  also  rather 
local.  The  common  maiden-hair  {A.  trichomanes) 
and  the  wall-rue  {A.  ruta-muraria)  are  abundant  in 
the  less  elevated  regions,  above  which  the  former 
gives  place  to  the  mountain-loving  green  spleen-wort 
{A,  viride),  which  has  the  same  habit  in  Britain. 
A.  septentrionale,  which  is  a  rarity  with  us,  is 
extremely  abundant  in  the  Alps,  but  always  on  the 
crystalline  rocks.  One  may  ramble  for  miles  over 
the  limestone  districts  without  seeing  a  single 
specimen,  but  no  sooner  do  the  gneisses  and  schists 

271 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

rise  to  the  surface  than  this  little  grass-like  fern 
makes  its  appearance  in  every  favourable  crack. 
Similarly  restricted,  but  much  rarer,  is  its  equally 
small,  and  with  us  still  scarcer,  relative  {A.  ger- 
manicum).  I  have  found  it  near  the  chalets  of 
Ailefroide  in  the  Val  Louise,  near  Salvent  in  the 
Val  de  Trient,  on  the  Col  de  Colma,  near  Chiavenna, 
and  in  two  or  three  other  localities.  The  northern- 
hard-fern  Blechnum  boreale  is  common  in  parts  of 
the  Alps  and  approaches  the  tree  limit.  The  brittle 
bladder-fern  (Cystopteris  fragilis)  may  be  found 
well  over  5,000  feet,  and  C.  alpina  is  much  less  rare 
than  it  is  among  our  hills ;  I  have  gathered  it  between 
the  Dauben  See  and  the  Gemmi  Pass  ;  that  is,  some 
7,400  feet  above  the  sea-level.  Cystopteris  montana, 
like  Polypodium  calcareum,  to  which  it  has  a  con- 
siderable resemblance,  is  a  lover  of  the  limestone, 
and  is  fairly  common  in  certain  places  ;  as,  for 
example,  about  the  Diablerets,  near  Rosenlaui,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Engelberg,  and  near  Landro 
and  Cortina  in  the  Dolomites.  It  generally  keeps 
rather  below  the  5,000  feet  limit,  but  I  have  found 
it  well  above  this  in  the  first  and  last  of  these  districts. 
I  have  seldom  seen  either  species — ilvensis  or  hyper- 
borea — of  the  genus  Woodsia,  such  rarities  in  our 
own  mountains,  but  I  have  once  or  twice  found  them, 
usually  in  the  Tyrol.  On  the  other  hand  the  moon- 
wort  [Botrychium  lunaria),  rare  and  local  in  England, 
is  extraordinarily  abundant  on  the  upper  pastures, 
at  least  as  high  as  7,000  feet — its  fronds  often 
giving  a  tawny  tint  to  the  grass.  ^  The  adder's 
tongue  {pphioglossum  vulgatum)  I  have  never  seen, 
'  There  is  a  second  species  in  the  Rhaetian  Alps. 
272 


The  Vegetation  of  the  Alps 

perhaps    because  it  is    early   in    its   appearance    and 
departure. 

Our  British  species  of  club-moss  {Lycopodium)  are 
also  found  in  the  Alps.  The  stag's-horn  (Z.  clavatum) 
is  common,  but  does  not  mount  so  high  as  the  more 
sturdy  species  {alpinum  and  selagd),  which  are  very 
abundant,  the  latter  growing  almost  to  the  verge  of 
the  snows.  L,  annotinum  is  more  common  than  with 
us,  and  a  stranger,  the  delicate  Z.  helveticu^n,  is  some- 
times rather  abundant,  creeping  among  damp  mosses 
in  the  shade  of  the  trees  ;  as,  for  instance,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Engelberg. 

We  must  leave  almost  unnoticed  mosses,  properly 
so  called,  and  lichens,  beautiful  as  they  are,  except 
one  form  of  the  latter,  the  long  '*  chamois-beard " 
lichen  which  drapes  the  aged  firs  with  a  vesture  of 
pendulous  threads.  When  every  other  form  of  vege- 
tation disappears  the  lichen  still  persists,  brightening 
the  rocky  peak  with  spots  of  grey  and  yellow  and  red. 
I  think  I  remember  it  on  the  summit  of  Monte  Rosa, 
I  know  that  it  exists  on  the  Grivola  (13,030  feet). 
Those  who  have  seen  it  in  these  lonely  fastnesses 
can  appreciate  Ruskin's  enthusiastic  praise  of  these 
plants,  "thehumblestof  the  earth-children." I  ''Strong 
in  lowliness,  they  neither  blanch  in  heat  nor  pine  in 
frost.  To  them,  slow-fingered,  constant-hearted,  is 
entrusted  the  weaving  of  the  dark,  eternal,  tapestries 
of  the  hills  ;  to  them,  slow-pencilled,  iris-dyed,  the 
tender  framing  of  their  endless  imagery.  Sharing 
the  stillness  of  the  unimpassioned  rock,  they  share 
also  its  endurance,  and  while  the  winds  of  departing 
spring  scatter  the  white  hawthorn  blossom  like  drifted 
^  "  Modern  Painters,"  vol.  v.  p.  102. 

273  S 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

snow,  and  summer  dims  on  the  parched  meadow  the 
drooping  of  its  cowslip-gold, — far  above,  among  the 
mountains,  the  silver  lichen-spots  rest,  star-like,  on 
the  stone ;  and  the  gathering  orange-stain  upon  the 
edge  of  yonder  western  peak  reflects  the  sunsets  of 
a  thousand  years." 

One  other  humble  and  even  less  conspicuous 
member  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  must  not  be  for- 
gotten. This  is  the  tiny  alga,  HcBmatococcus  nivalis.^ 
which  produces  the  red  snow  often  mentioned  in  the 
accounts  of  Arctic  voyages.  I  have  not  seldom  come 
upon  it  in  positions  from  rather  above  the  snow-line 
to  about  10,000  feet,  but  **  my  first  acquaintance  with 
it  was  on  a  snowfield  near  the  Viso,  and  so  far  as  I 
know,  it  is  rather  more  frequently  found  here,  and  in 
the  neighbouring  district  of  Dauphine,  than  in  any 
other  Alpine  region.  There  was  a  reddish-brown 
tint  upon  the  snow,  which  at  first  I  took  for  dust 
blown  from  some  rocks  which  were  at  no  great 
distance  :  but  when  we  walked  over  it  our  footmarks 
were  distinctly  of  a  dark  crimson-red  colour,  as  if  we 
had  first  stepped  upon  some  wet  gravel — such  as  is 
common  in  the  red  sandstone  districts  of  our  Midland 
counties.  On  taking  up  a  little  of  this  staining  matter, 
I  at  once  saw  that  it  was  not  dust  from  any  rock, 
and  a  closer  examination  showed  its  real  character. 
Under  the  microscope  it  appears  as  a  minute  crimson 
boss,  something  like  a  full-blown  rose."  2 

Mr.   F.  F.  Tuckett,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most 

»  Its  name  and  nature  have  been  disputed.  It  was  at  one  time 
called  Protococcus.  Dallinger  ("The  Microscope,"  &c.,  p.  558) 
inclines  to  regard  it  as  a  Falmella. 

"  "Alpine  Regions,"  p.  149. 

274 


The  Vegetation  of  the  Alps 

successful  explorers  of  Dauphin^,  mentions  the  occur- 
rence of  a  yellow  snow.  This,  however,  is  no  doubt 
produced  by  the  pollen  from  one  or  more  species  of 
fir,  for  it  was  proved  to  be  the  colouring  material  of  a 
"  yellow  rain  "  which  fell  a  few  years  ago  in  England. 


275 


CHAPTER  XII 

WILD   ANIMALS   OF   THE   ALPS 

Wild  mammals,  especially  those  of  larger  size,  are 
becoming  rarer  in  the  Alps.  The  Brown  Bear 
( Ursus  arctos)  is  now  probably  restricted  to  the  forest- 
clad  slopes  near  to  Zernetz  in  the  Engadine.  There, 
formerly,  they  could  sometimes  be  seen  even  from  the 
high-road,  as  happened  in  the  year  i860,  when  they 
were  unusually  numerous.  Berlepsch  ^  tells  several 
stories  of  encounters  with  them  in  the  few  years 
prior  to  that  date,  and  says  that  they  were  also  not 
rare  in  Canton  Valais,  and  sometimes  met  with  in  the 
Graians,  but  from  both  these  I  believe  they  have  now 
disappeared.  One  was  killed,  after  a  dangerous  en- 
counter, near  Dissentis  in  1838,  and  towards  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century  they  sometimes  took  toll 
of  the  flocks  and  herds  in  the  Oberland,  but  the  last 
slain  within  the  limits  of  Canton  Bern  was  in  18 19.2 
I  once  saw  the  traces  of  a  bear  on  the  snow — that  was 
in  1867 — near  the  top  of  the  Passo  de  Val  Viola,3 
about  7,900  feet  in  height,  when  I  had  come  up  the 

^  "The  Alps"  (translated  by  L.  Stephen),  p.  385. 

2  W.  A.  B.  Coolidge,  "The  Alps  in  Nature  and  in  History,"  p.  47. 

3  J.  Ball  ("Alpine  Guide:  Central  Alps,"  1866)  mentions  having 
seen  the  carcase  of  a  partly  devoured  cow  in  much  the  same  position 
— probably  about  the  year   1850. 

276 


Wild  Animals   of  the  Alps 

Val  di  Campo  on  my  way  from  Pontresina  to  Bormio. 
About  half  a  dozen,  however,  are  maintained  as 
guests  of  the  city  in  the  great  circular  bear-pit  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Aar  at  Bern,  where  their  comical 
attitudes  and  ways  make  them  an  unfailing  attraction 
to  visitors.  Their  appetite  for  cakes  and  other  good 
things,  especially  carrots  in  their  season,  is  apparently 
insatiable.  Canton  Bern  has  the  bear  for  its  arms, 
so  the  creature  figures  everywhere  in  its  capital  :  on 
fountains  and  clocks,  on  buildings  and  monuments, 
disputing  precedence  with  the  chamois  in  the  shops 
where  wood-carvings  are  sold. 

Wolves  have  also  become  rare,  but  they  occa- 
sionally occur  in  all  parts  of  the  Alps.^  They  are,  how- 
ever, fairly  common  in  the  Jura,  where,  for  obvious 
reasons,  they  became  rather  numerous  and  formidable 
after  the  Franco-German  war,  forty  years  ago.  But  I 
believe  they  are  never  seen  by  the  summer  traveller. 
The  lynx  is  seldom,  if  ever,  found  except  in  the  above- 
named  forests  of  the  Engadine.^  The  fox  is  more 
common,  but  is  rarely  met  with.  I  have  only  once 
seen  it,  in  the  year  1900,  and  that  was  a  fine 
specimen.  It  was  sauntering  along  the  bed  of  the 
glen  leading  from  Arolla  to  the  Pas  de  Chevres.  As 
I  happened  to  be  on  a  path  some  couple  of  hundred 
feet  up  the  slope,  and  about  as  many  yards  away,  the 
animal  did  not  see  me,  so  I  watched  it  at  my  leisure 
till    it   passed    behind   a   rock.     It   appeared   to   me 

^  Tschudi,  '*  Les  Alpes"  (transl.  1859),  speaks  of  their  occasional 
occurrence  in  most  parts  of  the  chain. 

2  Tschudi  [ut  supra^  p.  487),  speaks  of  them  as  occurring  at  that 
date,  though  very  rarely,  in  most  parts  of  the  Alps,  and  not  common 
even  in  the  Engadine. 

277 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

slightly  stouter  in  build,  and  greyer  in  colour  than  its 
English  representative.  Amusing  stories  are  told 
of  its  craft  by  Tschudi  and  other  writers,  especially 
of  the  way  in  which,  as  it  objects  to  the  labour  of 
digging  a  burrow,  it  waits  till  the  badger  has  per- 
formed that  task,  and  then  by  a  simple  process,  and 
without  resorting  to  teeth  and  claws,  serves  what  may 
be  called  a  writ  of  ejectment.  The  latter  animal  is 
not  rare,  but,  as  in  England,  owing  to  its  nocturnal 
habits,  is  but  seldom  seen.  It  ranges  up  to  a  con- 
siderable height  above  sea-level,  especially  in  the 
Eastern  Alps.  The  wild  cat  may  still  linger.  Its 
latest  haunts  on  record  were  in  the  Glarus  Alps 
and  the  forests  of  Canton  Bale,  which,  however,  are, 
strictly  speaking,  outside  our  limits;  but  it  has 
now  practically  become  extinct.  The  stone-marten 
{Martes  foind)  still  lives  in  the  pine  forests,  but  is 
rarely  visible.  I  have  once  or  twice  seen  it,  but 
have  unfortunately  forgotten  the  localities.  Not  so 
the  little  squirrel,  which  can  often  be  watched 
scuttling  up  and  down  the  pine-trees  or  running  on 
the  ground  from  one  to  another.  The  otter  frequents 
the  banks  of  the  rivers  and  lakes,  but  belongs  to  the 
lowlands  rather  than  the  mountains.  The  beaver, 
also,  with  the  same  haunts,  existed  till  the  earlier  part 
of  the  last  century,  for  it  is  mentioned  in  a  list  pub- 
lished in  1817  as  occurring  at  se^^eral  places  in  the 
Oberland,  though  rarely  ;  but  I  believe  it  has  now 
disappeared  from  the  Alps,  though  it  lingers,  or  did 
so  till  very  lately,  on  the  Rhone  outside  their  limit. 
The  rabbit  is  hardly  Alpine ;  the  brown  hare  {Lepus 
europcBus)  keeps  to  the  lower  districts,  not  ranging 
higher    than  from    4,000   to    5,000   feet   above  sea- 

278 


Wild  Animals  of  the  Alps 

level,  in  which  zone  I  once  saw  one  near  Bormio  ; 
but  the  blue  hare  {Lepus  variabilis)  wanders  up 
to  9,000  feet.  I  have  not,  however,  often  seen 
it.  The  marmot  [Arctomys  marmotta)  frequents  the 
bare  mountain  sides  between  the  summer  snow-line 
and  the  upper  limit  of  the  tree  region,  where  its 
shrill  whistle  is  often  heard  ;  but  a  quick  eye  is 
required  to  see  the  little  creature,  which  generally  differs 
but  slightly  in  colour  from  the  rocks.  They  sometimes 
form  little  groups,  but  at  the  first  alarm  they  scutde 
away  to  their  burrows,  which  are  much  like  rabbit- 
holes,  usually  having  the  entrance  under  a  slab-like 
boulder.  Still,  now  and  again  the  sentinel  may  be 
seen,  sitting  upright  on  his  haunches,  and  perhaps 
others  of  the  party,  if  one  happens  to  be  approaching 
quietly.  I  have  myself  come  across  a  fair  number,  and 
in  my  earlier  wanderings  occasionally  eaten  them. 
The  flesh  is  something  like  that  of  rabbit.  About  the 
middle  of  October  they  retire  into  winter  quarters,  a 
dozen  or  so  in  a  burrow,  which  is  plugged  up  a  few 
feet  below  the  entrance  with  earth  and  hay.  There 
they  double  themselves  up  and  pack  close  together 
for  their  six  months'  sleep,  during  which  they  neither 
eat  nor  drink.  Life  itself  goes  on  at  the  slowest 
possible  pace,  for  the  animal  during  this  time  is  said 
to  respire  about  as  many  times  as  it  would  do  in  a 
couple  of  days  of  its  ordinary  existence.  The  young 
— three  or  four  in  number — are  born  in  June.  They 
are  easily  tamed,  and  a  captive  marmot  is,  or  perhaps 
more  often  was,  amongst  the  devices  for  extracting 
centimes  from  the  tourist  s  pocket  in  the  more  fre- 
quented parts  of  the  Alps,  and  might  be  seen  with 
a  Savoyard  boy  even  in  the  streets  of  London.     A 

279 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

pair,  kept  in  a  cage  at  Saas  Grund,  in  the  garden  of 
the  Hotel  Monte  Moro,  took  crusts  and  green  food, 
for  both  of  which  they  seemed  to  have  a  boundless 
appetite,   from  the  fingers  of  any  visitor. 

The  wild  boar  does  not,  so  far  as  I  can  discover, 
extend  its  ranges  into  the  Alps  ;  and  the  stag  {Cervus 
elaphus)  restricts  itself  to  the  forests  on  the  lower 
slopes.  Here,  in  the  North-eastern  Alps,  it  is  common, 
but  only  by  means  of  careful  preservation.  In  the 
French  and  Swiss  Alps  it  is  practically  unknown.  In 
the  first-named  region  the  roedeer  is  fairly  abundant, 
ranging  up  to  about  5,000  feet,  but  is,  I  think, 
now  absent  from  the  others.  I  have  only  once  come 
across  it  alive,  and  that  was  in  descending  from  the 
Steinerne  Meer  to  the  Konigssee.  It  must,  however, 
be  common  in  that  region  of  the  Tyrolese  and 
Bavarian  Alps,  for  I  remember  that  ''rehbraten  "  was 
almost  always  an  item  on  the  menu  of  hotels  in  the 
Salzkammergut. 

But  no  wild  animal  is  so  thoroughly  identified  with 
the  Alpine  region  as  the  chamois  [Antilope  rupri- 
capra).  Its  ordinary  range  is  from  about  6,000 
to  10,000  feet,  and  it  has  been  met  with,  especially 
in  Styria,  as  low  as  3,500  feet.  In  winter  also  it 
is  often  driven  down  to  the  level  of  the  pine-woods. 
Formerly  it  was  comparatively  common  in  all  parts 
of  the  Alps,  but  the  increase  of  tourists  has  produced 
the  usual  results,  and  at  one  time  there  seemed  to  be 
some  danger  of  its  disappearing  from  Switzerland. 
That,  however,  has  been  averted  by  the  wise  action 
of  the  Swiss  Government,  which,  in  addition  to  main- 
taining the  usual  laws  for  the  protection  of  game, 
closes   whole  districts   for  several  years,  so  that  the 

280 


Wild  Animals  of  the  Alps 

animals  can  increase  and  multiply  in  peace,  and  thus 
wander  away  to  replenish  the  mountains  outside  those 
limits.  According  to  an  interesting  paper  recently 
published/  they  are  on  the  increase  everywhere, 
except  in  the  Italian  Alps,  where  it  seems  only 
possible  to  defend  them  from  human  enemies  in  the 
royal  preserves  on  the  mountains  near  Cogne.  In  the 
Alps  of  Bavaria  and  the  Northern   Tyrol  they  have 


Fig.  14. — Chamois. 


always  been  more  or  less  protected,  and  some  strange 
stories  are  told  about  the  relations  of  keepers  and 
poachers,  especially  near  the  border.  Charles  Boner, 
in  his  delightful  volume,^  relates  instances  of  how 
keepers  shot  at  poachers  on  sight,  and  one  in  which 

^  A.  H.  Tubby,  Alpine  Journal^  vol.  xxv.  p.  575. 
2  "  Chamois  Hunting  in  the   Mountains  of  Bavaria  and  in  the 
Tyrol,"  chap.  xxxi. 

281 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

the  latter  took  a  more  elaborate  revenge.  Three  of 
them  caught  a  keeper  asleep  in  a  chalet,  and  made  him 
prisoner  before  he  could  grasp  his  rifle.  Two  then 
held  him  fast  while  the  third  beat  him  with  a  cudgel 
till  he  became  insensible.  From  that  state  he  was 
roused  by  a  sharp  pang.  "  The  men  were  raising  him 
against  the  wooden  walls  of  the  hut,  and  extending 
his  legs  and  arms,  were  nailing  them  to  the 
boards.  Having  no  nails,  they  had  cut  pointed 
wooden  pegs,  which  they  drove  through  each  hand 
and  foot  ;  and  so  they  left  him  on  the  mountain 
upreared — crucified."  There  he  hung  in  agony 
till  sunrise,  when  he  once  more  became  in- 
sensible. On  coming  again  to  life  he  found  himself 
lying  on  the  grass.  His  dog,  which  had  been  power- 
less against  his  assailants,  had  remained  by  him  till 
daylight,  and  then  its  barks  and  howls  attracted  the 
notice  of  a  lad  out  with  his  cows,  who  had  run  for 
help  and  released  the  sufferer.  Fortunately  no  nerve 
or  sinew  was  injured,  so  that  after  some  weeks  the 
keeper  was  again  able  to  go  about.  The  story  evi- 
dently was  still  waiting  for  a  final  paragraph  when  the 
man  told  it  to  Mr.  Boner's  informant,  for  he  left  off 
with  these  words :  *'  As  to  the  three  men  who 
crucified  me,  I  have  often  seen  them  since  in  the 
inn-room  and  out  in  the  fields.  However,  should  I 
meet  them  in  the  wood  or  on  the  mountain  in  my 
territory,  then  I  shall  do  as  I  have  always  done  yet." 
Another  extract  from  the  same  book  ^  may  give  those 
last  words  a  more  definite  meaning,  though  it  concerns 
another  keeper,  still  a  young  man  and  only  an  assist- 
ant.    He  was  going  along  the  ridge  of  a  mountain 

^  Chap.  xvi. 
282 


Wild   Animals   of  the   Alps 

called  the  Geidauer  Eibel  Spitz,  and,  looking  down, 
saw  twenty-three  men  standing  by  a  hut.  He 
watched  them  for  a  long  time  and  thought :  *'  If  I 
could  only  get  a  shot  at  one  of  them — only  at  one ! " 
He  waited  long  till  at  last  he  saw  they  were  coming 
up  towards  him  along  a  little  path  that  led  through 
the  latschen.^  "  He  allowed  them  to  advance  till  they 
were  about  eighty  yards  distant,  and  then  let  fly  at  the 
foremost :  he  hit  him  right  in  the  middle  of  the  breast, 
and  the  man  dropped  down  on  the  spot,  stone  dead." 
The  others  halted  at  once,  and  as  the  young  fellow 
lay  among  the  pines  he  could  hear  them  deliberating 
what  they  should  do.  "  Some  were  for  going  back, 
when  one  of  them  said  it  was  a  shame  to  think  of  going 
away  without  knowing  more  about  the  matter.  .  .  . 
Come  what  might,  he  would  go  on,  and  the  others 
might  follow  if  they  liked.  So  with  rifle  in  hand  all 
ready  to  fire,  on  he   went  alone,  straight  towards  the 

place  where  K was  concealed.     He  let  him  come 

on  to  about  sixty  paces  and  fired.  The  shot  turned 
the  fellow  quite  round  on  one  side  ;  he  stopped  short 
and  then  fell,  and  when  the  others  saw  this  they  all 
turned,  and  were  off  as  fast  as  they  could  go."  The 
young  man  descended  by  another  way,  and  when 
reloading  his  gun  he  thought,  "as  there  was  no 
knowing  what  might  happen,"  he  would  charge  one 
barrel  with  shot,  putting  ball  into  the  other.  Then 
he  sat  down  among  the  bushes,  near  to  where  a  stream 
was  bridged  by  a  plank,  to  see  whether  by  chance  the 
poachers  were  descending  by  the  track  into  which 
he  had  come.  After  about  an  hour  he  heard  voices, 
and  then  saw  several  men  approaching.  It  was 
^  A  dwarf  pine,  see  p.  268. 
283 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

getting  dark,  but  he  could  just  make  out  that  they 
were  all  armed.  So  feeling  sure  they  were  the  same 
gang,  he  waited  till  they  were  crowded  together 
before  crossing  the  little  bridge,  and  then  fired  his 
shot-barrel  into  the  midst  of  them,  wounding  one 
of  them  severely  in  the  chest.  Before  they  could 
recover  from  their  consternation  at  this  new  and 
unexpected  attack,  the  young  forester  slipped  away 
through  the  bushes,  and  took  another  path  home. 
Of  course  he  kept  his  own  counsel  for  many  years, 
and  the  poachers  never  knew  who  had  killed  one  of 
their  number,  crippled  another  for  life,  and  badly 
peppered  a  third. 

Notwithstanding  poachers  and  other  obstacles  to 
their  preservation,  chamois  are  still  fairly  abundant 
in  the  North-eastern  Alps.  We  are  told  in  a  volume  ' 
some  forty  years  more  recent  than  the  one  just 
quoted,  *'  Sport  in  the  Alps  in  the  Past  and  Present," 
that  in  the  year  1892  no  fewer  than  8,144  head  of 
chamois  were  shot  in  the  Austrian  Alps — this  was 
more  than  three-fourths  of  the  ''  bag  "  secured  in  the 
whole  of  the  chain,  which  Mr.  Baillie-Grohman 
estimates  at  about  11,000.  He  thinks  that  of  late 
years  the  number  of  chamois  has  increased.  Cer- 
tainly it  has  in  the  Salzburg  mountains,  for  instead 
of  being  at  most  6,500  as  it  was  in  i860,  it  had  risen, 
when  he  wrote,  to  at  least  22,000.  In  a  protected 
district  they  become  less  timid.  I  remember  that 
one  day  in  1880,  when  the  Pontresina  district  was  a 
Freiheit,  I  was  wandering  with  a  friend  on  the 
Roseg  Glacier,  and  six  chamois  crossed  the  ice 
three  or  four  hundred  yards  from  us,  moving  deliber- 
«  By  W.  A.  Baillie-Grohman,  1896,  see  page  21. 
284 


Wild  Animals   of  the  Alps 

ately  and  often  only  walking.  On  our  way  back, 
later  in  the  day,  we  saw  a  single  one,  perhaps  a 
member  of  the  same  herd,  feeding  quite  uncon- 
cernedly on  the  valley  side,  about  200  feet  above 
us  and  as  many  yards  distant.  So  much  had  the 
chamois  increased,  that  a  few  days  before  I  had  seen 
from  the  Piz  Languard  a  herd  of  over  twenty — some, 
like  the  Irishman's  pig,  ran  about  so  much  that  I 
could  not  count  them — capering  in  their  play  about 
a  snowfield  on  the  north  side  of  the  mountain,  and  I 
have  come  in  sight  of  from  one  to  four  at  a  time  in 
almost  every  part  of  the  Alps ;  but  the  largest  herds, 
where  no  close  time  existed,  were  one  of  nine  in 
i860,  near  the  Viso,  one  of  fifteen  in  that  same  Val 
Roseg  in  1867,  and  one  of  seventeen  near  the  Col 
de  la  Cavale,  in  Dauphine  in  1862.  In  the  first- 
named  district,  on  the  Col  de  Cristillan  (9,771  feet), 
I  had  my  nearest  view  of  a  chamois.  The  day  was 
bright,  but  a  rather  keen  air  was  coming  from  the 
north,  so,  as  the  actual  summit  of  the  pass  is  a 
small  gap  in  a  low  crest  of  bare  rocks,  we  sat  down 
on  the  lee-side  of  them  to  take  our  lunch.  We  had 
just  finished,  the  guides  were  packing  up  the  pro- 
visions, and,  as  it  happened,  I  was  standing  close 
to  this  gap.  A  slight  clattering  noise  on  the  other 
side  made  me  glance  in  that  direction,  and  in  the 
next  instant  a  full-grown  chamois  made  its  appearance. 
For  a  moment  it  stood  as  if  petrified,  then,  seeming 
to  think  retreat  more  dangerous  than  advance,  it 
bounded  away  to  its  right  and  went  down  the  rocky 
slope  at  a  pace  creditable  to  any  antelope ;  our 
guides  yelling  and  hurling  stones,  and  no  doubt 
anathematising  their  ill  luck  at  being  unarmed. 

285 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

The  chamois  is  not  restricted  to  the  Alps.  The 
izard  of  the  Pyrenees  is  the  same  animal,  and  it  is 
represented  in  Albania  and  the  Caucasus.  The 
rutting  season,  when  the  bucks  sometimes  fight 
fiercely,  is  in  November,  and  the  young  are  born  in 
May  or  June.  Both  sexes  have  horns,  and  these  are 
about  the  same  length,  but  with  the  buck  they  are 
slighdy  thicker  at  the  base,  and  the  **  pot-hook " 
curves  more  sharply.  Eleven  inch  heads,  according 
to  Mr.  Baillie-Grohman,  are  rare  ;  the  longest  pair 
known  to  him  measured,  over  the  curve,  slightly 
more  than  twelve  inches.  *  The  coat  changes  colour 
during  the  year.  In  the  summer  it  is  greyish  ochre 
brown,  but  in  the  winter  it  becomes  black  and 
shaggy,  and  the  hairs  have  grown  to  nearly  three 
times  their  former  length.  Along  the  backbone  of  the 
males  these  in  winter  reach  a  great  length,  occasion- 
ally nearly  9  inches,  and  are  a  glossy  black  in  colour, 
just  tipped  with  a  yellowish  white.  They  are  care 
fully  picked  out  from  the  skin  of  the  slain  animal, 
and  when  **  bunched  together "  form  the  so-called 
gems-bart,  or  chamois's  beard,  for  which  a  high 
price  is  paid  to  ornament  the  hat.  The  average 
weight  of  an  adult  buck  is  about  65  lb.  avoirdupois, 
but  Mr.  Baillie-Grohman  mentions  one  killed  in 
Transylvania  in  1891  which  actually  scaled  123  lb. 
The  chamois  is  dainty  in  its  food.  The  sparsely 
growing  Lepidium  alpinum  on  '*  slopes  of  rocky  debris 
is  one  of  its  principal  articles  of  summer  and 
autumn  diet,  while  the  equally  insignificant-looking 
Meum  mutellina  is  a  favourite  herb.  In  the  winter, 
which  is  a  long  period  of  short  commons  for  chamois, 

*  "Sport  in  the  Alps,"  p.  33. 
286 


Wild   Animals   of  the   Alps 

their  food  consists  of  the  withered  grass  they  find 
under  the  dense  branches  of  arves  and  pines,  and 
of  fibrous  lichen,  which  hangs  in  long  tresses 
on  these  trees,  under  which  they  also  find  shelter 
from  snow.  Now  and  again,  when  exceptionally 
heavy  falls  of  snow,  followed  by  rain,  press  these 
sheltering  branches  down  to  the  ground,  and  they 
become  coated  with  ice,  the  poor  animals  are  unable 
to  get  out  and  they  die  from  starvation."  ^ 

The  bouquetin,  or  steinbock  {Capra  ibex),  is  a 
larger  and  much  more  stoutly  built  animal  than 
the  chamois.  Formerly  it  ranged  over  most  parts 
of  the  Alps,  but  is  now  confined  to  a  single  district. 
At  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  they  were 
not  rare  in  the  Tyrol  ;  then  more  than  350  are 
said  to  have  been  in  the  mountains  at  the  head  of  the 
Zillerthal,  which  was  a  preserve  of  the  Archbishops 
of  Salzburg,  but  before  that  time  they  had  become 
very  rare  in  Switzerland.  De  Saussure  states  that 
in  his  time  the  animal  was  no  longer  found  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Chamonix,  though  one  is  said  to 
have  been  shot  on  the  south  side  of  the  Grandes 
Jorasses  so  late  as  1856.2  It  had  already  disappeared 
from  the  French  and  most  parts  of  the  Italian  Alps, 
and  was  becoming  scarce  in  the  Eastern  Graians, 
when  the  naturalist  Zumstein,  about  182 1,  prevailed 
on  the  Italian  Government  to  pass  stringent  game 
laws  for  its  protection.  A  few  years  after  coming 
to  the  throne.  King  Victor  Emmanuel,  who  was 
an  ardent  sportsman,  acquired  the  shooting  rights 
of  the    Cogne   district,    and    made   its   mountains   a 

^  Id.,  p.  37. 

2  T.  W.  Hinchliff,  **  Summer  Months  among  the  Alps,"  p.  207. 

287 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

place  where  the  bouquetin  had  no  enemies  but 
himself.  The  keepers  are  vigilant  and  the  penalties 
heavy.  I  That  for  killing  one  is — or  was — 6,000  francs 
and  nine  years  at  the  galleys.  Even  to  be  in 
possession  of  any  part  of  the  animal  is  illegal. 
Should  any  one  find  the  skeleton  of  a  bouquetin  that 
has  been  accidentally  killed — and  avalanches  are 
sometimes  fatal  to  them — he  must  give  up  the  horns, 
for  which  he  receives  a  small  reward.     One  of  my 


Fig.  14.— Bouquetin. 


friends  picked  up  a  pair  upon  a  glacier  near  the 
Grivola.  But  on  his  way  down  he  met  a  garde- 
chasse,  who  politely  required  him  to  give  up  his 
treasure,  with  the  result  that  some  weeks  after  his 
return  he  received  a  document  entitling  him  to 
be  paid  the  legal  sum.  The  animals  increased  so 
much  under  this  strict  protection — for  there  were 
"fifty-five  keepers  whose  rifles  were  said  to  shoot 
^  Baillie-Grohman,  ut supra,  pp.  265-274. 
288 


Wild   Animals  of  the   Alps 

uncommonly  straight " — that  though  the  King  some- 
times killed  about  fifty  bucks  in  a  season,  during 
the  later  years  of  his  life,  there  were  at  the  end 
many  more  than  five  hundred  bouquetins  in  these 
mountains.  Still,  there  sometimes  is  a  little  poach- 
ing, and  horns  do  find  their  way  out  of  the 
country.  The  late  S.  W.  King  ^  tells  an  amusing 
story  of  how  he  transported  a  rather  good  pair 
of  bouquetins  horns,  purchased  at  Cogne,  through 
some  of  the  Italian  valleys  and  across  the  frontier, 
by  the  help  of  his  guide,  who  was  also  owner  of 
the  mule  on  which  Mrs.  King  rode.  The  curve  of 
the  horns  fitted  exactly  under  the  animal's  belly, 
and  were  effectually  concealed  beneath  her  habit 
when  she  was  on  its  back.  I  have  a  small  pair 
which  travelled  over  the  St.  Bernard  in  the  "  hare 
pockets  "  of  my  shooting-coat ;  and  a  very  fine  pair, 
which,  once  belonging  to  a  friend,  were  sent  to 
him  in  England  from  Aosta — somehow.  Victor 
Emmanuel's  collection  in  his  hunting-lodge  at  Sarre, 
near  Aosta,  contained  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
says  Mr.  Baillie-Grohman,^  no  fewer  than  232  pairs 
of  the  males'  horns  and  22  of  the  females'.  The 
largest  of  the  former  measured  a  little  over  30  inches 
along  the  curve,  and  their  circumference  at  the 
base  was  not  much  less  than  10  inches.  The 
largest  doe's  horns  (these  are  always  much  smaller) 
were  just  under  10  inches  long  and  under  5  inches 
in  circumference.  The  bouquetin  is,  though  much 
more  sturdily  built,  even  more  active  and  sure- 
footed   than   the  chamois,  and   at  least   as    keen    in 

'  "  Italian  Valleys  of  the  Alps,"  p.  337. 
'  Loc,  ciL^  p.  266. 

289  T 


The  Building  of  the   Alps 

sight,  but  its  sense  of  smell  is  believed  to  be  less 
acute.  Their  haunts  are  the  same,  but  they  not 
unfrequently  descend  from  their  usual  quarters,  and 
the  males  occasionally  **  are  so  far  led  away  as  to 
form  mesalliances  with  humble  domestic  she-goats 
belonging  to  the  herds  of  semi-wild  beasts  that  are 
turned  out  high  up  on  the  Piedmont  mountains 
during  the  summer,  often  without  any  caretaker  at 
all."  The  offspring  can  be  crossed  with  the  ibex, 
and  experiments  were  made  by  King  Victor 
Emmanuel.  After  his  death  the  hybrids  were  trans- 
ferred to  Welschtobel  in  the  Grisons  and  set  at 
liberty.  There  the  aggressive  qualities  which  they 
had  already  manifested  became  so  developed  that 
they  had  to  be  destroyed,  for  they  attacked  inoffensive 
wayfarers  and  shepherds  in  the  most  ferocious  manner, 
Mr.  Baillie-Grohman  gives  instances  of  their  pug- 
nacity, but  says  that  a  small  colony  of  half  and 
three-quarter  breds  was  doing  well  in  the  Salzburg 
Tdnnen-Gebirg.  Representative  species  exist  in 
other  mountain  regions.  There  is  one  in  the 
Pyrenees  and  in  the  Sierra  Nevada — though  some 
consider  these  distinct — one  in  Crete,  another  in  Sinai, 
Arabia,  and  parts  of  Palestine  and  Upper  Egypt, 
besides  three  species  in  the  Caucasus  and  others 
in  the  different  mountain  systems  of  Asia.^ 

Birds  are  fairly  well  represented  in  the  Alps. 
Whether  the  largest  of  them,  the  Bearded  Vulture, 
or  Lammergeier  (Gypaetns   barbatus),  still    exists   is 

^  Mr.  Lydekker  regards  the  Spanish  and  Caucasian  animals  as 
goats  rather  than  true  ibexes,  admitting  only  four  species  of  the 
latter,  viz.,  the  Alpine,  the  Himalayan,  the  Arabian,  and  the 
Abyssinian  (Royal  Natural  History  vol.  ii.,  p.  244). 

290 


Wild  Animals  of  the  Alps 

now  said  to  be  doubtful ;  but  I  feel  sure  that  I  saw 
it  once  or  twice  in  the  earlier  years  of  my  mountain 
climbing.  The  story  of  the  last  known  to  have  met 
its  death  in  Switzerland  is  thus  related  :^  "Its  home 
was  the  Canton  of  the  Vallais,  where  for  the  space 
of  a  quarter  of  a  century  it  dwelt  among  the  jagged 
peaks  of  the  Lotschenthal.  .  .  .  The  inhabitants, 
whose  cats  disappeared  with  a  surprising  regularity, 
knew  the  bird  intimately.  It  was  a  female  of  ad- 
vanced age,  as  was  plain  from  its  almost  white 
underparts,  and  was  familiarly  known  as  *  s  alt  Wyb ' 
(the  Old  Woman)."  Its  mate  had  been  shot  in  1862, 
from  which  time  it  had  been  a  lonely  widow.  **  The 
venerable  dame  of  the  Lotschenthal  Alps  came  at  last 
to  a  lamentable  end.  She  was  found  dead,  above 
Visp,  in  February,  1887,  beside  the  corpse  of  a 
poisoned  fox."  But  a  century  ago  the  bearded  vulture 
was  not  uncommon, 2  and  a  scourge  to  the  shepherds. 
Lambs  and  kids  were  often  carried  away  to  the  eyrie ; 
sheep,  goats,  and  full-grown  chamois  were  not  killed 
with  beak  and  claw,  but  the  bird  swooped  down 
on  them  as  they  were  traversing  rocks  and  buffeted 
them  with  its  long  wings  till  they  were  precipitated 
down  the  cliffs.  Carrion  or  fresh  meat  was  equally 
welcome,  and  the  bird's  power  of  swallowing  and  of 
digestion  were  amazing.  Tschudi  mentions  that  frag- 
ments of  a  cow's  ribs,  six  inches  long,  wool  and  hair, 
the  ribs  and  the  brush  of  a  fox,  and  the  more  solid 
parts  of  many  smaller  animals,  which  are  often  swal- 

'  W.  A.  B.  Coolidge,  ut  supra,  p.  53. 

2  In  the  seventeenth  century  they  were  numerous.  An  inscription 
at  St.  Bartolomeo  on  the  Kdnigssee  speaks  of  one  hunter  having 
killed  127  of  these  birds  (Baillie-Grohman,  ut  supra^  p.  34). 

291 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

lowed  whole,  have  been  found  in  this  or  that  specimen. 
Nor  was  it  safe  to  leave  little  children  unguarded  on 
the  mountains.  As  the  story  of  Geier-Anni  has  been 
so  often  told,  we  need  only  mention  that  a  three-year- 
old  child,  while  her  parents  were  haymaking  on  an 
alp  just  out  of  sight,  was  carried  away  by  a  vulture. 
Fortunately  a  peasant,  while  walking  in  a  glen  some 
short  distance  off,  heard  the  cry  of  a  child,  went  to 
see  the  cause,  saw  the  bird  take  wing,  and  rescued 
the  little  one  hardly  the  worse  for  the  rough  grip 
and  the  flight  through  the  air.  The  golden  eagle 
i^Aquila  chrysaetos)  still  lingers,  though  it  is  becoming 
very  rare.  In  earlier  years  I  more  than  once  saw  it; 
but  usually  at  a  considerable  distance.  Kites,  harriers, 
falcons  are  sometimes  seen,  and  hawks  are  not  un- 
common ;  but  the  ordinary  traveller  finds  it  hard  to 
recognise  the  species  when  the  bird  is  soaring  about  in 
the  air. 

The  raven  may  be  sometimes  watched  on  the  wing, 
or  its  ill-omened,  hoarse  croak  heard  sounding  from 
the  crags,  and  jackdaws  are  common  ;  but  a  more 
welcome  sight  to  the  wanderer  in  the  mountains  is 
the  Alpine  chough  [Pyrrkocorax  alpinus),  which  is 
almost  identical  with  the  Cornish  chough  i^P,  graculus), 
now  so  rare  in  England,  for  the  only  notable  differ- 
ence is  that  the  former  has  a  yellow  instead  of  a 
red  bill,  the  legs  being  red  in  both.  They  hang  about 
rocky  peaks  frequently  visited  by  tourists,  such  as  the 
Piz  Languard  or  Monte  Rosa,  to  pick  up  the  scraps 
from  their  lunch,  and  are  by  no  means  timid,  settling 
on  crags  only  a  few  yards  away  from  the  party,  for 
they  know  that  the  man  with  an  ice-axe  is  harmless 
and   a   provider  of  food.     The    English   species,  or 

292 


Wild  Animals  of  the  Alps 

variety,   is   said   also  to   occur,  though    I   think   less 
commonly. 

The  capercaillie  { Tetrao  urogallus)  is  the  largest  of 
the  Alpine  game-birds,  but  it  is  nearly  confined  to  the 
northern  Tyrol,  and  keeps  to  the  lower  parts  of  the 
forests.  So  also  do  the  Greek  partridge  {Perdix 
GrcBcd),  a  close  ally  of  the  French  partridge,  and 
the  hazelgrouse  {Tetrao  bonassa)\  but  the  blackcock 
( Tetrao  tetrix)  ranges  up  to  about  4,000  feet.  The 
ptarmigan  {Lagopus  alpinus),  however,  is  a  genuine 
mountain  bird,  for  its  favourite  haunts  are  between 
the  tree-limit  and  the  snowfields.  There  it  is  not 
unfrequently  seen  singly  or  in  small  coveys.  Like  the 
Alpine  hare,  it  turns  white  in  winter,  and  is  slow  in 
getting  altogether  quit  of  its  cold-weather  plumage. 
I  once  saw  an  interesting  struggle  in  a  hen  ptarmigan 
between  the  fear  of  man  and  the  maternal  instinct. 
On  my  way  down  from  the  Sparrenhorn  I  unex- 
pectedly came  round  the  corner  of  a  rock  in  front 
of  which  she  was  sunning  herself  with  her  brood  of 
small  chicks.  They  toddled  off,  as  best  they  could, 
in  different  directions.  She  took  wing,  and  went 
straight  away  for  some  twenty  yards  at  full  speed. 
Then  I  saw  her  suddenly  check  in  her  flight,  and 
almost  at  once  drop  on  the  stone-strewn  ground.  I 
stood  against  the  rock  perfectly  still.  Then  she 
began  to  run  in  and  out,  working  back  towards 
me,  making  a  slight  clucking  noise,  when  now  one, 
now  another,  of  the  chicks  came  running  from 
among  the  stones  to  join  her.  Most  of  the  brood 
was  soon  collected,  but  three  or  four,  as  I  had 
noticed,  had  gone  rather  apart  from  the  others.  Then 
she  began  to  work  in  that  direction — all  this  hardly 

293 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

twenty  yards  away  from  me — till  she  had  got  them 
also.  One,  however,  to  judge  by  her  actions,  was  still 
missing,  and  apparently  in  search  of  that  she  passed 
out  of  sight  among  the  boulders.  It  was  quite  evident 
that  for  a  moment  the  instinct  of  self-preservation 
had  prevailed,  but  then  the  sense  of  duty  asserted 
itself. 

Over  other  birds  we  must  pass  briefly.  Owls, 
among  them  the  eagle  owl  {Strix  bubo)  and  the  horned 
owl  {S.  otus),  are  said  to  be  not  rare,  but  from  their 
nocturnal  habits  are  rarely  seen.  Gulls  of  more  than 
one  species  are  common  on  the  great  Alpine  lakes, 
and  the  black-headed  gull — now  a  winter  visitor  to 
St.  James's  Park  and  the  Thames — remains  there  for 
the  whole  year.  In  the  summer  two  kinds  of  tern 
may  be  noticed.  Herons,  coots,  and  grebes  may 
also  be  seen,  as  in  England,  with  other  frequenters  of 
the  water.  The  smaller  land  birds  must  receive  only 
brief  mention.  Most  of  our  English  species  occur,  some 
which  are  rare  with  us  being  comparatively  common, 
together  with  a  few  which  do  not  reach  our  islands. 
Crows  and  rooks,  jackdaws  and  magpies,  are  not 
wanting ;  but  in  the  higher  mountain  valleys  the  most 
noteworthy  birds  are  the  nutcrackers  i^Nucifraga  caryo- 
catactes)y  which  are  fairly  common — for  example,  near 
Zermatt,  or  in  any  place  where  there  are  many 
arollas  on  the  cones  of  which  they  feed ;  but  it  is 
difficult  to  get  a  good  sight  of  them,  for  they  are 
rather  shy  birds.  The  little  crossbill  is  less  com- 
mon, but  has  similar  haunts.  "The  jay's  (Garrulus 
glandarius)  harsh  cry  breaks  now  and  again  the 
stillness  of  the  woods ;  the  white-breasted  swift 
{Cypselus  alpinus)  plies  its  untiring  wing  high  in  the 

294 


Wild   Animals  of  the   Alps 

air  ;  and  the  dipper  (Cinclus  aquaticus),  yet  more 
conspicuous  with  throat  and  breast  of  white,  sits 
perched  on  a  boulder  by  the  torrent  or  darts  arrow- 
like up  the  stream"  ;  the  Alpine  accentor  (y^.  alpinus), 
its  throat  white  with  crescent  spots  of  black ;  the 
stonechat,  with  its  harsh  chirp  ;  the  snowfinch  {Frin- 
gilla  nivalis),  the  wheatear  (Sylvia  cenanthe),  with  the 
common  and  the  black  redstart  (S.  phcenicurus  and 
S,  tithys),  enliven  the  stony  tracts  above  the  Alpine 
pastures.  Less  common  is  the  little  wall-creeper 
{Tichodroma  muraria),  which  I  have  occasionally  had 
the  pleasure  of  watching.  It  is  rather  larger  than 
our  tree-creeper,  but  has  much  the  same  habits, 
except  that  it  takes  its  exercise  on  rocks  instead  of 
tree-trunks.  It  is  an  unusually  pretty  bird,  with  its 
grey  head  and  back,  crimson  wing  coverts,  and  black- 
tipped  tail  and  pinion  feathers.  Larger  and  still  more 
beautiful  is  the  rose-coloured  pastor  {^Pastor  roseus), 
which  I  once  saw  on  the  cliffs  of  a  mountain  near  the 
Grande  Chartreuse. 

Reptiles  and  amphibia  have  more  representatives 
than  in  England.  Snakes  are  commoner  on  the 
southern  than  on  the  northern  side  of  the  chain.  I  have 
seen  but  few,  and  those  generally  dead  by  the  road- 
side. Among  them  are  our  common  snake  (Matrix 
torquata),  and  the  adder,  which  is  represented  by 
more  than  one  species,  including  the  English  one 
(Pelius  berus).  The  latter  genus  is  said  to  be  abun- 
dant, and  in  consequence  dangerous,  on  the  moun- 
tains near  Champery.  It  is  found  up  to  about  7,000 
feet,  and  some  of  the  snakes  also  go  high.  The 
largest  that  I  have  seen  was  creeping  on  a  rough, 
grassy  bank  by  the  roadside  between  Cezanne  and 

295 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

Oulx,  on  the  descent  from  the  Mont  Genevre  Pass. 
It  was  over  a  yard  long,  and  not  an  English  species  ; 
but  I   did  not  examine  it   closely,   as   I   saw   it  was 
harmless   and   thought   the   world    wide    enough    for 
both    of    us.      The    snake-like    blindworm    {Anguis 
fragilis)  is  not  rare.     The  active  little  lizard  [Lacerta 
agilis)y    which   occurs    in    the   south  of   England,  is 
abundant   in    the   warmer    districts,    and    the    green 
lizard  [L.  viridis),  is  so  in  some  parts.     The  sunny 
faces    of    rough    walls    are    their   favourite    haunts. 
Frogs,    both    Rana   temporaria    and    esculenta,    are 
common   in   the    lower    valleys,    the    former   almost 
swarming  in  the  marshy  places,  and  a  third  species 
(i^.  alpind),  is   often   seen   near  the  mountain  tarns, 
up  to  about  7,000  feet  above  sea-level.     Toads  also 
are  not  rare,  and  an  Alpine  variety  or  species  is  occa- 
sionally found  at  nearly  as  great  an  elevation.     The 
bright-green  tree-frog  {Hyla  arbor ea)  barely   reaches 
the  mountains,  and  is  seen  with  difficulty  because  of 
its  habits.     I  once  found  it  by  the  Lake  of  Geneva, 
near    Lausanne.     Much   more   common    is   the  little 
black  salamander  {Salamandra  atrata),  which  is  said 
to   range  from   about    3,000   to    10,000  feet,   and  of 
which  some  writers  have  made  two  species,  one  all 
black,  the  other   marked  with   orange   spots  on  the 
flank  and  belly.     I  have  seen  it  in  most  parts  of  the 
Alps,  and  quite  commonly  near   Cortina  d'Ampezzo 
(in  the  Dolomites,  4,048  feet),  especially  on  an  evening 
after  rain.     Here  they  were  crawling  about  "a  low 
wall  by  the  roadside,  just  outside  the  town,  into  the 
crevices  of  which  they  scrambled,  if  disturbed,  with 
a  slow,  wriggling,    awkward   gait.      Commonly  they 
are  from  4  to  6  inches    in    length,  but  occasionally 

296 


Wild  Animals  of  the  Alps 

may  be  found  about  2  inches  longer."  The  highest 
position  in  which  I  have  found  one  was  near  the  Httle 
lakes  forming  the  sources  of  the  Po,  about  7,700  feet 
above  the  sea.  They  are  clammy,  unpleasant-looking 
creatures,  but  though  they  have  a  bad  reputation  with 
the  peasants,  are  quite  harmless.  The  newts  (  Triton) 
are  represented  by  more  species  than  in  England,  and 
sometimes  range  up  to  nearly  the  same  elevation  as 
the  frogs  and  toads,  but  are  not  likely  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  passing  traveller. 

If  we  may  trust  early  writers  on  the  Alps,  these 
were  formerly  haunted  by  some  very  formidable 
reptiles.  The  Zurich  professor,  J.  J.  Scheuchzer,  who 
published  his  Itinera  Alpina  in  1723,  describes  and 
depicts  several  kinds  of  dragons.  More  than  one  is 
serpent-like,  another  has  rudimentary  legs,  a  third  has 
suckers  of  a  sort  substituted  for  its  right  fore-leg,  a 
fourth  is  quadrupedal,  others  are  winged.  In  fact,  if 
their  zoology  were  closely  studied,  they  would  require 
almost  a  chapter  to  themselves.  They  survived  to 
quite  recent  times  ;  for  we  are  given  a  circumstantial 
account  of  how  in  1649  a  dragon  was  seen  to  fly  from 
Mount  Pilatus  across  the  clear  sky,  and  another,  which, 
however,  was  only  two  ells  long,  was  killed,  by  aid  of 
sling  and  stone,  in  October,  1 702,  by  a  brave  native  of 
the  Val  Bregaglia.  But  they  have  all  vanished,  as 
completely  as  the  Deinosaurians  and  Pterodactyles, 
and,  unlike  them,  have  "  left  not  a  wrack  behind," 
except  a  number  of  quaint  stories. 

Fish  abound  in  the  lakes  and  in  some  of  the  moun- 
tain streams.  One  author  gives  the  number  of  species 
as  forty-seven,  and  the  genus  Salmo  is  well  repre- 
sented.    The  salmon  proper  (5.  salar)  hardly  reaches 

297 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

the  mountains.  There  is,  however,  a  species  {S, 
lacustris)  which  belongs  to  the  Lake  of  Constance  and 
goes  up  the  Rhine  as  far  as  Trons,  and  another  (S. 
Marcena)  frequents  the  great  lakes,  and  may  be  over 
4  lb.  in  weight.  In  the  Lake  of  Geneva  it  goes 
by  the  name  oi  ferrat,  Salmon  trout  (Salmo  trutta) 
inhabit  the  lakes,  and  generally  go  some  distance 
from  them  up  the  rivers  ;  specimens  weighing  from 
lo  to  12  lb.,  and  occasionally  even  30  lb.,  have 
been  caught  in  the  Lake  of  Geneva.  ^  Trout  {S. 
fario)  abound  in  almost  every  river ;  one  may  see  men 
fishing  in  water  which  at  no  great  distance  has  issued 
from  a  glacier.  They  are  certainly  found  in  streams 
nearly  7,000  feet  above  sea-level.  I  remember,  in  my 
earlier  days,  seeing  a  notice  at  a  little  inn  on  the 
Bernina  road,  just  at  the  mouth  of  the  Heuthal,  with 
this  inscription:  '' Zujeder Zeitfrische Forellen'''^  The 
height  of  this  spot  is  fully  6,700  feet,  and  probably 
trout  may  occasionally  be  found  not  far  below  the 
snow-line,  but  they  run  smaller  as  the  habitat  gets 
colder.  The  larger  lakes  are  well  stocked  with  fish, 
mostly  English  species,  such  as  the  pike,  which, 
according  to  Tschudi,  ranges  up  to  3,400  feet,  the 
perch,  roach,  dace,  and  the  like,  and  in  suitable  places 
eels.  I  remember  a  very  large  and  thick  one  being 
brought,  in  1867,  to  Caprile,  which  had  been  caught 
in  the  Lago  d'Alleghe  (3,320  feet).  The  burbot  {Lota 
vulgaris)  is  rather  plentiful,  and  much  sought  after 
because  of  its  excellent  flavour  ;  also  there  are  sundry 
carp,  a  small  species  of  which  is  plentiful  in  the  Lom- 

*  Morell,  "Scientific  Guide  to  Switzerland,"  p.  263. 

*  "  Fresh  trout  always  to  be  had."     They  were,  of  course,  caught 
occasionally,  and  kept  alive  in  a  submerged  box. 

298 


Wild   Animals  of  the  Alps 

bard  Lakes,  and  is  almost  as  delicate  in  flavour  as  the 
char.  It  is  there  called  agone,  its  scientific  name 
being  Cyprinus  lariensis.  Some  of  the  smaller  kinds 
of  fish  are  abundant  in  the  warmer  lakes,  as  any  one 
can  see.  I  remember  some  thirty  years  ago  watching 
a  good  many  of  such  fish  landed  at  Desenzano 
from  the  Lago  di  Garda  by  a  very  youthful  angler 
whose  apparatus  and  method  of  providing  himself  with 
bait  were  equally  primitive.  Close  to  him,  on  the 
shore,  an  old  woman  was  on  her  knees  bending  over 
the  water  to  scrub  clothes  in  the  usual  way.  Her 
back  was  broad,  and  its  smooth  surface  was  attractive 
to  the  flies.  When  the  boy  wanted  a  fresh  bait  he 
merely  stepped  to  her  side  and  with  a  dexterous  sweep 
of  his  half-closed  hand  captured  one  of  them,  which 
was  promptly  impaled  on  his  hook.  The  process  was 
repeated  every  few  minutes,  for  the  bites  were  fre- 
quent and  the  bait  perishable.  Sundry  kinds  of  fresh- 
water fish  used  to  appear  at  the  table  d'hote  of  inns  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  larger  lakes,  but  of  late  years 
I  have  seldom  seen  them,  probably  because  the  supply 
would  not  equal  the  demand  ;  perhaps,  also,  lest  they 
should  be  disdained  as  merely  home-produce.  So 
in  their  place  sea  fish  is  served,  but  this  is  not  a 
change  for  the  better,  since,  though  sent  by  quick 
trains  and  packed  in  ice,  it  has  acquired  something 
of  that  flavour  which  the  first  Hanoverian  king  so 
much  missed  when  he  came  from  the  oysters  served 
at  Herrenhausen  to  those  brought  from  the  waters  of 
Whitstable  or  Colchester. 

The  invertebrate  animals  of  the  Alps  are  so  nume- 
rous that  we  can  only  glance  at  a  few  of  the  more 
conspicuous  forms.     Several  species  of  mollusca  as- 

299 


The  Building  of  the   Alps 

cend  to  a  considerable  height,  though  apparently  they 
are  less  common  there  than  in  E no-land.  Bulimus 
montanus  wanders  up  to  about  6,000  feet,  and  I 
remember  finding  its  shells  rather  abundant  on  the 
grassy  slopes  above  Bourg  St.  Maurice.  An  Alpine 
variety  of  Helix  arbustorum  wanders  rather  higher — 
to  about  7,000  feet — but  the  most  conspicuous  shell 
in  the  Alpine  regions  is  H.  pomatia,  though  it 
remains  in  the  warmer  regions,  not  venturing  above 
about  4,000  feet.  Below  this  it  is  often  very  abundant, 
crawling  on  the  vineyard  walls  and  foraging  under 
the  bushes.  It  is  found  on  some  of  our  chalk  downs 
— for  example,  those  above  Caterham  and  at  Box 
Hill — and  is  supposed  to  have  been  introduced  by  the 
Romans,  with  whom  it  was  an  item  in  the  menu,  as  it 
still  is  in  Italy.  On  the  approach  of  winter  the  animal 
closes  up  its  shell  by  a  secretion  of  carbonate  of  lime, 
which  at  the  coming  of  spring  is  pushed  out.  I 
remember  seeing  numbers  of  these  doors  under  a 
rough  hedge  by  the  side  of  a  vineyard  on  the  slopes 
above  Thun. 

Few  fail  to  notice  the  butterflies,  which  are 
much  more  numerous  in  the  Alps  than  in  this  country. 
Nearly  all  our  species  are  there,  with  several  others, 
some  rare  with  us  being  quite  common ;  most  of 
them  range  rather  higher  on  the  southern  than  on 
the  northern  slopes.  The  beautiful  Swallowtail 
i^Papilio  machaon),  which  now  only  lingers  in  our 
English  fens,  is  rather  abundant  up  to  at  least  4,000 
feet.  Its  hardly  less  beautiful  brother  {P,  poda- 
lirius),  which  is  not  generally  admitted  into  the 
list  of  British  butterflies,  does  not  ascend  so  high, 
and  is  commoner  on  the  southern  side  of  the  water- 

300 


Wild  Animals  of  the   Alps 

shed.  Very  handsome  also  is  the  Apollo,  with  its 
downy  white  wings,  with  black  spots  on  the  upper 
pair  and  broad  rings  of  red  on  the  lower.  The 
larger  species  [Parnassius  Apollo),  is  seldom  found 
much  below  3,000  feet  and  ranges  well  up  to  nearly 
6,000  feet,  while  its  smaller  kinsman,  P.  deliuSy 
wanders  over  a  zone  beginning  and  ending  about 
1,000  feet  higher.  The  ''whites"  go  well  into  the 
mountains,  the  more  notable  being  Leucophasia 
sinapis,  the  English  Wood- white,  Aporia  crategi 
the  Black-veined-white,  which  are,  I  think,  commoner 
than  with  us,  and  Pieris  Daplidice,  our  very  rare 
Bath- White,  which  I  remember  to  have  seen  in  the 
Visp-thal,  the  Brimstone  [Gonepteryx  Rkamni),  and 
the  Sulphur  butterflies,  especially  the  latter,  range  up 
to  the  higher  Alpine  pastures.  This  genus,  ColiaSy 
has  at  least  one  more  representative  than  in  Eng- 
land, and  they  are  generally  abundant.  The  Painted- 
lady  [Cynthia  cardui)  is  said  to  have  been  found  up 
to  9,000  feet,  and  some  of  the  Vanessce  range  high.  I 
saw  the  small  Tortoise-shell  ( V.  urticce)  fluttering  about 
the  top  of  the  Grivola  (13,030  feet)  in  company  with 
a  blue-bottle  fly,  but  the  Camberwell-beauty,  uhough 
not  such  a  rarity  as  in  our  land,  does  not  go  above 
2,500  feet,  at  which  height  I  have  seen  it.  The 
Fritillaries  are  abundant,  and  range  in  suitable  places 
to  a  considerable  height.  I  believe  most  of  our 
species  occur,  but  one  of  them,  the  Queen-of-Spain 
[Argynnis  Lathonia),  and  another,  Weaver's-fritillary 
[MelitcBa  Dia),  to  which  admission  is  refused,  are  not 
rare.  I  think  the  latter  does  not  ascend  high  ;  the 
former,  if  I  mistake  not,  flew  by  me,  with  another 
species  of  the  same  genus,  and  two  of  Erebia,  while 

301 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

I  was  seated  on  the  top  of  the  Strahlegg  Pass 
(10,995  feet). 

The  Coppers  {Lycena)  mount  to  the  highest  pastures, 
and  are  represented  by  about  three  species,  one  of  them 
being  closely  allied  to  the  Great  Copper  [L,  dispar), 
now  vanished  from  our  fens.  It  will  be  long  before 
this  genus  disappears  from  the  Alps.  Representatives 
of  the  genus  Polyomniatus  which  get  their  scientific 
name  from  the  under-surface  of  their  wings,  are 
common  on  the  mountains.  The  Folkestone-blue, 
P.  Adonis,  and  the  Chalk-hill-blue,  P.  Corydon,  the 
one  so  rich,  the  other  so  delicate,  in  colour,  are  often 
abundant,  and  so  is  the  Common-blue  P.  Alexis — or 
one  very  like  it.  For  these,  especially  the  last,  and 
the  Small-copper  P,  Phleas,  puddles  in  the  road, 
especially  if  flavoured  with  ammonia,  seem  to  be 
curiously  attractive.  They  settle  there  in  dozens,  and 
act  as  if  stupefied,  for  it  would  be  easy  to  tread 
upon  them.  Our  English  species  of  *'  Ringlets  "  and 
"  Heaths "  are  common,  and  two  of  them,  Erebia 
blandina  and  E.  Cassiope,  rare  mountain  butterflies 
with  us,  are  common  on  the  higher  Alpine  slopes,  the 
latter  one  being  said  to  range  from  5,600  feet  to  8,500 
feet,  and  though  it  sometimes  descends  lower  it  is  not 
likely  to  be  found  unless  the  peaks  generally  rise 
above  the  former  limit.  E.  blandina  occupies  a 
similar  but  rather  lower  zone. 

Of  the  SphyngidcB,  the  Humming-bird  Hawk-moth 
{Macroglossa  stellatarum)  is  extremely  abundant  in  the 
warmer  valleys,  but  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  both  it  and 
its  relatives  are  confined  to  the  regions  where  the 
vine  can  grow,  in  which  also  **  I  have  found  the 
Death's-head  {Ackerontia  atropos)  and  the  Oleander 

302 


Wild  Animals   of  the  Alps 

(Chcerocampa  nerii).  Once,  however,  I  saw  a  good 
many  caterpillars  of  Deilephila  euphorbice  on  the  ascent 
to  the  Great  Scheidegg  above  Grindelwald,  and 
came  upon  a  fine  specimen  of  Sphinx  convolvuli  dead 
on  a  snowfield  at  the  head  of  the  Val  Pellice,  near  the 
Viso,  at  a  height  of  about  9,000  feet  above  the  sea."  ^ 
The  pretty  Burnet-moths  are  very  abundant  on 
pastures  up  to  a  height  of  quite  6,000  feet.  Both  the 
common  English  species  may  be  recognised,  and 
Anthrocera  minos,  which  in  our  islands  is  almost  re- 
stricted to  the  West  of  Ireland,  is  anything  but  rare. 
Moths  are  plentiful  enough,  till  we  approach  the 
snow-line,  but  these  we  can  only  mention,  as  well  as 
beetles.  The  grass  on  the  upper  pastures  sometimes 
seems  almost  alive  with  grasshoppers,  and  they  are 
never  silent  so  long  as  the  sun  shines.  Towards  the 
margin  of  the  Alps  we  find  two  large  species,  a  very 
conspicuous  one,  the  great  green  grasshopper 
[Acrida  viridissimd)  and  a  stouter  insect,  which 
throngs  the  brushwood  by  the  shores  of  the  Italian 
lakes,  making  an  incessant  whirring  whistle.  These 
may  be  found  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Alps  up  to 
about  4,000  feet  above  the  sea.  They  will  never 
escape  being  heard,  if  not  seen  ;  but  two  allied 
insects  cannot  fail  to  be  noticed  on  the  hot  roads  in 
the  lower  valleys.  Till  disturbed,  they  are  incon- 
spicuous, resembling  slightly  large  and  stout  grass- 
hoppers of  a  greyish  brown  colour,  but,  when  needed, 
a  pair  of  handsome  underwings  come  from  under  the 
coverts,  in  the  one  a  rich  red,  in  the  other  a  steel-blue 
in  colour,  and  both  bordered  with  black.  Flies  are 
often  a  pest ;  the  common  house-fly  used  to  make  the 
'  "  Alpine  Regions,"  p.  204. 


The   Building  of  the   Alps 

inns  on  the  Italian  side  almost  intolerable,  and  it  was 
often  bad  enough  on  the  northern  side  of  the  chain. 
In  the  better  houses  it  is  now  no  more  a  trouble  than 
in  England,  but  out  of  doors  in  some  parts  of  the 
Alps  it  is  an  almost  intolerable  nuisance.  It  infests 
the  limestone  Alps,  especially  in  the  month  of  July, 
but,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  is  not  nearly  so 
troublesome  in  the  regions  of  crystalline  rocks.  Out- 
side the  houses  they  are  reinforced  by  kindred  which 
bite  as  well  as  tickle.  One  of  these  resembles  a  big 
blue-bottle  ;  a  second,  less  common,  is  something  like 
a  magnified  wasp  ;  and  thirdly  comes  the  ubiquitous 
horse-fly.  It  is  the  worst  of  all,  for  it  acts  as  though  it 
believed  biting  to  be  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  sent 
into  the  world,  and  for  that  cause  it  was  willing  to  die. 
The  other  two  are  nervous  in  proportion  to  their  size, 
and  can  thus  be  more  easily  kept  at  bay.  Among 
other  pests,  the  visitor  in  older  days  quickly  became 
acquainted  with  the  domestic  flea  {Pulex  irritans), 
and  not  seldom  with  the  bug  {Cimex  lectularius). 
Forty  or  fifty  years  ago  travel  in  the  French  and 
Italian  Alps,  especially  the  former,  was  almost  intoler- 
able to  those  not  blessed  with  an  insect-proof  skin. 
The  late  J.  Ormsby  ^  thus  narrated  his  experience  of 
the  fleas  in  the  Graian  Alps :  **  Without  any  inordinate 
vanity,  I  may  say  that  I  am  a  judge  of  fleas.  I  have 
given  them  my  attention  under  various  circumstances 
and  in  various  countries.  Not  to  speak  of  an  intimacy 
with  the  ordinary  flea  of  the  diligence,  founded  on 
having  travelled  many  a  league  in  his  company,  I 
have  spent  nights  with  hardy  mountain  fleas  in  Swiss 
chalets,  with  desperate  ff-eischiltz,  wildj'dger  fleas 
»  "Peaks,  Passes,  and  Glaciers,"  2nd  series,  vol.  ii.  p.  325. 


Wild  Animals  of  the  Alps 

in  the  Tyrol,  with  bold  contrabandist  fleas  on  the 
Spanish  Pyrenees,  with  Arab  fleas,  restless  and  law- 
less, children  of  the  desert,  dwellers  in  tents.  But 
none  of  these  ever  impressed  me  so  much  as  the  natives 
of  the  Val  Savaranche.  Equal  to  any  of  the  others 
in  ferocity  and  physical  vigour,  they  surpassed  them 
all  in  instinct.  They  even  give  evidence  of  a  kind  of 
mutual  dependence,  and  organisation  of  labour,  which 
suggests  something  like  a  dawning  civilisation, — so 
systematic  and  well-sustained  are  their  attacks.  In 
the  Marmot's  Hole  [a  little  auberge]  we  were  knee- 
deep  in  them.  They  crept  up  our  trousers  and  down 
our  necks  until  we  were  saturated  with  them.  They 
lay  in  wait  for  us  in  dark  corners,  and  sprang  upon  us 
suddenly.  They  clung  to  us  viciously,  and  bit  us  at 
supper,  and  bit  us  at  breakfast — they  bit  us  sitting 
and  bit  us  walking.  On  the  mountain  side,  on  the 
glacier,  nay,  even  on  the  top  of  the  Grivola,  unaffected 
by  the  rarefication  of  the  air,  unimpressed  by  the 
magnificence  of  the  view,  there  they  were,  biting  away 
as  if  they  had  not  broken  their  fast  for  twenty-four 
hours."     Graphic,  but  hardly  exaggerated! 

Ants  are  common  ;  I  remember,  when  we  were  in  a 
boat  on  the  Lake  of  Lucerne,  a  great  number  settling 
on  us  which  promptly  proceeded  to  shed  their 
wings.  A  large  brown  species  [Formica  fusca)  makes 
its  mounds,  which  are  sometimes  quite  a  yard  high, 
in  the  pine  forests,  and  it  is  found  up  to  some 
6,000  feet  above  sea-level.  I  had  the  satisfaction 
when  staying  years  ago  at  the  Engstlen  Alp  of  taking 
revenge  on  the  blue-bottle  biters,  and  providing  the 
ants  with  provender.  These  pests  kept  settling  on 
my   trousers ;    through    which,    if  drawn    tight,    they 

305  u 


The  Building  of  the   Alps 

can  bite,  and  even  through  flannel  coat  and  shirt. 
Stunned  with  a  slap,  they  fell  on  to  the  path,  up  which 
the  ants  were  constantly  passing.  A  little  party  of 
these  promptly  seized  the  "jetsam,"  and  notwith- 
standing its  struggles  hauled  it  off  to  their  larder. 
Mosquitos  sometimes  make  their  presence  felt  in  the 
larger  marshy  valleys,  especially  that  of  the  Rhone. 
They  are  apt  to  be  a  nuisance  at  Martigny  and 
Vernayaz,  and  I  think  are  extending  their  range,  for 
of  late  years  they  have  adopted  a  policy  of  pin -pricks 
at  Sion  and  Sierre.  I  once  felt  their  attentions  near 
Zermatt,  and  another  time  when  sitting  under  the  fir- 
trees  near  the  upper  inn  at  Arolla — in  each  case  over 
5,000  feet  above  the  sea.  Spiders  are  common.  One 
is  said  to  have  been  found  on  the  summit  of  the 
Piz  Linard  (10,516).  Its  distant  relative,  the  scorpion, 
does  not  cross  the  Alps.  I  once  saw  a  specimen  at 
Baveno.  It  was  on  a  bed  at  an  hotel,  in  a  rather 
torpid  condition. 

A  tiny  insect,  Desoria  glacialis,  abounds  on  the 
glaciers.^  If  a  flat  stone  be  lifted,  dozens  of  these 
black  creatures  may  be  seen  kicking  about  in  the  little 
pool  of  water  beneath  it,  a  habit  which  has  got  them 
the  soubriquet  of  the  **  glacier  flea,"  though  they  are 
guiltless  of  biting.  The  glacieres  also  have  their 
insect  inhabitants.  We  found  three  species  in  a  little 
tunnel  in  the  ice  of  one  in  Savoy ;  two  were  caddis- 
fHes  {Stenophylax),  the  other  was  an  ichneumon 
(Paniscus).^  In  warmer  regions,  when  the  night  comes 
on,  fireflies  may  be  seen.     I  have  watched  them  from 

'  De  Saussure  ("Voyages,"  §2249)  found  them  on  the  summit 
of  the  Petit  Mont  Cervin  (12,749  feet). 
»  G.  F.  Browne,  "Off  the  Mill,"  p.  iii. 

306 


Wild  Animals  of  the  Alps 

the  train  passing  through  the  beautiful  glen  of  the 
Kuntersweg  above  Botzen,and  they  were  fairly  common 
at  San  Martino  de  Castrozza  (4,912  feet)  in  the  Dolo- 
mites and  near  Crissolo  in  the  Po  valley,  at  a  slightly 
lower  level.  Glow-worms  are  found  in  most  of  the 
Alpine  valleys,  but  only,  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  in  the 
lower  parts,  as  near  the  Lake  of  Brienz.  In  fact,  to 
myself,  they  are  unfamiliar  sights,  perhaps  because  one 
seldom  rambles  by  night,  except  when  making  a  start 
before  sunrise  for  a  mountain  excursion,  when  we  are 
certainly  above  their  haunts. 


307 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   ALPS    IN    RELATION    TO    MAN 

Man  first  settled  in  the  Alps  long  before  the  dawn  of 
European  history.  The  Palaeolithic  hunter  may  have 
wandered  into  them  in  pursuit  of  game,  but  though  he 
has  left  a  few  relics  of  his  presence  in  the  lowlands,  none 
have  occurred,  so  far  as  I  know,  actually  within  their 
margin.  Probably  in  his  days,  or  at  any  rate  in  the 
earlier  part  of  them,  the  snow-line  lay  considerably 
below  its  present  limit,  and  the  glaciers  extended 
much  farther  down  the  valleys.  Even  in  the 
Magdal^nien,  the  last  of  its  epochs,  according  to  the 
division  adopted  by  many  authorities,  the  mammoth 
still  lingered  and  the  reindeer  was  abundant  in  Central 
France.  As  this  implies  a  temperature  considerably 
lower  than  it  is  at  the  present  time,  the  Alps  would 
hardly  tempt  the  men  of  that  age  to  establish  per- 
manent settlements,  so  that  in  all  probability  they 
were  but  rarely  visited,  and  opposed  an  impassable 
obstacle  to  a  tribe  in  search  of  new  lands.  An  advance 
was  made  in  Neolithic  times,  though  so  far  as  the 
evidence  goes,  in  these  also  no  attempt  was  made  to 
penetrate  for  any  distance  into  their  recesses.  But 
a  series  of  discoveries  has  been  made  during  the  last 
sixty  years,  which  have  shown  that  in  those  times 
permanent    settlements    were    established    in    many 

308 


The  Alps   in  Relation  to  Man 

places  on  the  borders  of  the  mountains.  The  first 
discovery,  which  has  added  a  chapter  to  the  history 
of  man  in  Europe,  happened  during  the  winter  of 
1853-4,  at  a  time  when  the  water  of  the  Lake  of 
Zurich  was  unusually  low.  The  inhabitants  of  Ober 
Meilen,  a  village  on  its  eastern  bank,  seized  the  oppor- 
tunity of  enlarging  their  vineyards  by  constructing  a 
wall,  in  order  to  add  to  them  a  portion  of  its  shore. 
While  doing  this  they  came  upon  the  heads  of 
wooden  piles,  among  which  were  lying  pieces  of 
stag's  horn,  stone  hatchets,  and  other  implements. 
Such  things  had,  indeed,  been  previously  found,  but 
little  notice  had  hitherto  been  taken  of  them.  Now, 
however,  M.  ^ppli,  the  schoolmaster  of  Ober  Meilen, 
communicated  the  news  to  the  savants  of  Zurich,  and 
Dr.  F.  Keller,  who  saw  their  importance,  succeeded  in 
awakening  the  interest  of  antiquarians.  Other  lakes 
now  began  to  yield  up  their  hidden  treasures,  and  it 
was  soon  determined  that  a  people  had  lived  by  all 
the  Alpine  lakes  bordering  the  lowland,  whose  log- 
hut  villages  were  built  on  platforms  supported  by 
piles,  like  those  described  by  Herodotus,  five  cen- 
turies before  our  era,  on  Lake  Prasias  in  the  south  of 
Roumelia.  Fine  collections  may  be  seen  in  the  chief 
museums  of  Switzerland  and  other  countries,  and 
much  has  been  written  about  them  and  their 
significance.  Dr.  Monro  ^  justly  calls  this  **  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  archaeological  discoveries  of  the 
nineteenth  century,"  bringing  to  light  **  a  singular 
but  long  unknown  phase  of  prehistoric  civilisation  in 

'  "Lake  Dwellings  of  Europe"  (1890)  (p.  3),  in  which  is  given, 
with  many  maps,  plans,  and  illustrations,  a  very  full  account  of 
the  discoveries  up  to  that  date. 

309 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

Europe  which  found  Its  outcome  in  the  habit  of  con- 
structing dwellings  in  lakes,  marshes,  &c."  Most  of 
these  interesting  sites  of  pile-supported  villages  have 
been  found  on  the  margins  of  lakes,  either  outside  the 
Alpine  chain,  such  as  Neuchatel,  Bienne,  or  Morat, 
or  those  which,  though  penetrating  its  margin,  are 
more  or  less  in  contact  with  the  lowlands  ;  such  as 
Zurich  or  Constance,  Maggiore  or  Garda,  Bourget, 
the  Mond  See  or  the  Atter  See.  They  also  occur 
quite  away  from  the  mountains,  and  may  be  traced 
down  the  four  great  rivers,  the  Rhone  and  the  Rhine, 
the  Danube  and  the  Po,  which  radiate  from  the  Alps, 
and  they  are  in  some  parts  associated  with  artificial 
mound-dwellings,  more  like  the  crannogs  of  Ireland. 
They  contain  remains  of  the  Stone  and  Bronze  Ages, 
during  which  they  were,  in  some  cases,  continuously 
inhabited.  Objects  of  iron  are  comparatively  few, 
and  their  mode  of  occurrence  leads  Dr.  Monro  to 
believe  I  that,  ''with  the  introduction  of  that  metal  into 
general  use  in  Switzerland,  we  have  a  new  people 
who  conquered  and  gave  the  death-blow  to  their 
system  of  lake-villages.  Henceforth  these  villages 
fell  into  decay.  ...  In  Roman  times  there  remained 
only  the  remains  of  a  few  stations."  The  settlements 
of  the  pure  Stone  Age  are  found  only  in  a  limited  area 
of  Central  Europe,  and  their  greatest  development  was 
in  the  lakes  bordering  both  sides  of  the  Alps,  with 
the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  Lac  de  Bourget,  where 
pile-buildings  seem  to  have  been  constructed  exclu- 
sively in  the  Bronze  Age.^      The   remains  indicate, 

»   Ut  supra,  p.  545. 

*  So  far  as  I  know  menhirs  or  other  megalithic  remains  are  rare 
in  the  Alps. 

310 


The  Alps  in  Relation  to  Man 

even  in  the  earliest  settlements,  a  fairly  advanced  stage 
of  civilisation.  Their  owners  cultivated  flax,  fruits, 
and  various  kinds  of  grain.  Besides  the  ordinary 
instruments  of  stone,  bone,  and  wood,  they  could 
fashion  canoes  and  make  pottery,  twine,  fish-nets,  and 
cloth.  In  the  earlier  Stone  Age  they  had  domesticated 
a  small  species  of  dog,  a  small  ox,  a  horned  sheep, 
and  the  goat.  Towards  its  end  they  added  the  horse  ; 
and,  in  the  Bronze  Age,  other  and  larger  breeds  of 
dogs,  cattle,  and  sheep,  together  with  the  ass  and  the 
pig,  the  cat  and  the  domestic  fowl.  The  general 
similarity  of  objects  in  ordinary  use  over  so  wide  an 
area  in  Europe  seems  indicative  of  considerable  inter- 
course and  a  common  origin  of  its  inhabitants  ;  one  or 
two,  indeed,  suggest  traffic  between  distant  places. 
In  the  lake-dwellings  stone  implements  have  occa- 
sionally been  found,  formed  from  three  kinds  of  stone, 
not  one  of  which  is  known  to  occur  within  the  limits 
of  the  Alps.  These  are  nephrite,  jadeite,  and  chloro- 
melanite.  The  last  kind  is  the  rarest,  only  about 
two  hundred  of  it  having  been  found  ;  of  the  second, 
nearly  double  that  number ;  and  of  the  first,  about 
twice  these  numbers  combined.  From  the  purposes 
to  which  they  were  applied  we  may  infer  that  they 
were  regarded  as  valuable  and  the  presence  of  chips 
of  the  nephrite  suggests  that  it,  at  any  rate,  was 
sometimes  imported  unworked. 

The  human  remains  from  the  earlier  Stone  Age 
indicate  that  a  brachycephalic  race  was  then  in  exist- 
ence, which  gradually  gave  place  to  a  dolichocephalic 
one,  till  the  latter  prevailed  in  the  full  Bronze  Age  ; 
while  the  invaders  of  the  Iron  Age  appear  to  have 
been  mainly  brachycephalic,'  members  of  the  Celtic 
»  Ut  supra,  p.  537. 


The  Building  of  the   Alps 

race,  whose  remains  are  found  even  on  the  Alpine 
passes  and  who  have  left  their  mark  on  written 
history. 

For  some  time  prior  to  the  year  400  b.c,  the  Gauls, 
probably  because  they  needed  more  room  at  home, 
had  been  pressing  on  the  peoples  south  of  the  Alps, 
and  at  last  came  into  conflict,  as  historians  tell  us, 
with  the  growing  power  of  Rome.  Legends  have 
gathered  round  the  story  of  their  advance  on  that 
city,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Capitol,  it  was  sacked  and  burnt ;  and 
though  the  Gauls  may  not  have  returned  scatheless 
to  their  mountain  fastnesses,  they  gave  trouble  for  at 
least  another  hundred  years  to  the  northern  part  of 
^  Italy.  Nearly  two  centuries  later  the  Alps  witnessed 
the  passage  of  a  yet  more  formidable  invader,  who, 
however,  had  come  from  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Mediterranean.  In  the  year  218  b.c,  during  the 
second  Punic  War,  Hannibal  led  his  army  from  Gaul 
over  one  of  the  Alpine  passes,  to  defeat  time  after 
time  the  Roman  forces,  to  approach  the  walls  of  the 
metropolis,  to  threaten  the  existence  of  the  nation, 
and  at  last,  after  a  sixteen  years'  struggle,  to  retreat, 
baffled,  with  no  better  result  than  to  "  point  a  moral  and 
adorn  a  tale."  ^  By  what  pass  Hannibal  crossed  has 
been  a  fruitful  source  of  controversy.  Special  corre- 
spondents, as  Dr.  Coolidge  observes,  were  not  then 
in  existence.2  Polybius,  who  is  nearest  to  being  a 
contemporary  authority,  for  he  was  born  about  204 
B.C.,    was    a   native    of    Southern    Greece,    and   had 

^  I,  demens,  et   ssevas  curre   per  Alpes,   Ut   pueris   placeas  et 
declamatio  fias  (Juv.,  Sat.  x.  166). 

^  "The  Alps  in  Nature  and  History,"  pp.  56,  156-8. 

312 


The  Alps  in   Relation  to  Man 

reached  the  age  of  thirty-seven  years  before  he  set 
foot  in  Italy.  But  as  a  preparation  for  writing  his 
history,  which  was  the  work  of  his  later  life,  he 
travelled  much,  in  order  to  understand  the  general 
topography  of  the  countries  with  which  it  dealt.  He 
makes  some  rather  precise  statements  about  Hanni- 
bal's route  ;  but  Livy,  the  other  authority,  who  was 
not  born  till  59  B.C.,  writes  much  more  vaguely. 
Four  passes  may  be  seriously  considered  as  the 
possible  scene   of  the  Carthaginian  passage. 

The  Litde  St.  Bernard  found  favour  with  the  late 
W.  J.  Law.'  The  Mont  Cenis,  or  rather  a  variation 
of  that  pass,  called  the  Little  Mont  Cenis,  was  advo- 
cated by  the  late  Robert  Ellis.2  W.  A.  B.  Coolidge 
prefers  the  Mont  Genevre,3  and  Douglas  W.  Fresh- 
field4  strongly  advocates  the  Col  de  I'Argentiere.  The 
last  of  the  four,  which  leads  out  of  the  valley  of  the 
Ubaye,  a  tributary  of  the  Durance,  to  Cuneo,  I  have 
never  seen  ;  of  the  others,  the  Little  St.  Bernard  seems 
to  me  inadmissible,  unless  we  entirely  discredit  the 
local  topography  of  Polybius  ;  and  the  Mont  Genevre 
appears  open  to  the  same  objection,  so  that,  although 
it  finds  favour  with  such  a  great  authority  as  Dr. 
Coolidge,  I  still  think  that,  so  far  as  these  three 
are  concerned,  the  Little  Mont  Cenis  has  the  strongest 
claims.  But  I  doubt  whether  the  question  will  be 
finally  settled   by  anything   short  of  unearthing   the 

^  "The  Alps  of  Hannibal"  (1866).  But  this  route  had  been 
already  maintained,  as  the  author  mentions  in  his  opening  chapter, 
by  De  Luc,  Wickham  and  Cramer,  and  one  or  two  earlier  authors. 

2  "  Hannibal's  Passage  of  the  Alps"  (1853),  and  "An  Enquiry 
into  the  Ancient  Routes  between  Italy  and  Gaul"  (1867). 

3  "  The  Alps  in  Nature  and  History,"  chap.  viii. 
*  Alpine  Journal^  xi.  267 ;  xiii.  28. 

313 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

skeleton  of  an  African  elephant  on  the  Italian  side 
of  the  summit. 

After  Carthage  had  been  utterly  crushed,  the  Romans 
saw  the  imperative  necessity  of  strengthening  their 
hold  upon  the  Alps  ;  and  early  in  the  first  century 
of  the  present  era  they  had  made  themselves  masters 
not  only  of  its  passes,  but  also  of  at  least  the  low- 
lands on  the  farther  side.  After  they  had  conquered 
Gaul,  and  established  themselves  on  the  Rhine,  the 
Inn,  and  the  Danube,  they  left  their  monuments  in 
the  great  Alpine  valleys,  and  frequently  used  some  at 
least  of  the  passes  with  which  Alpine  travellers  are 
still  familiar.  One  triumphal  arch  was  erected  at 
Susa,  on  the  joint  route  of  the  Mont  Genevre  and 
Mont  Cenis,  about  the  year  8  B.C. ;  another  at  Aosta 
{Augusta  Prcetoria)  to  commemorate  the  conquest 
of  the  Salassi  24  B.C.,  by  Terentius  Varro.  He 
rebuilt  their  devastated  town,  and  Roman  work  may 
be  seen  in  the  remnants  of  an  amphitheatre,  of  a 
possible  theatre,  of  a  fairly  well-preserved  Eastern 
gate  near  the  arch,  and  in  many  parts  of  the  walls. 
There  was  a  Roman  station  at  Sion,  and  an  interest- 
ing collection,  found  in  Canton  Valais,  of  remains  from 
that  age  may  be  seen  in  the  Cantonal  Museum  at 
Sion,  and  some  fragments  of  buildings  are  left  at 
Coire  (Curia  Rhoetorum).  A  column  ^  still  stands  at 
St.  Pierre  on  the  Great  St.  Bernard,  and  the  site 
of  a  Roman  temple  to  Jupiter  Penninus,  with  inscrip- 
tions, coins,  &c.,  has  been  found  on  the  summit  of 
the  pass.  On  the  Little  St.  Bernard  also  the  founda- 
tions  of    a    Roman    temple    have    been    recognised, 

^  Said  to  be  a  milestone  of  the  date  of  the  younger  Constantine 
(Ball's  Guide,  Western  Alps  (1898),  p.  429). 


The  Alps  in   Relation  to   Man 

together  with  a  column  of  calc-mica  schist  supposed 
to  have  belonged  to  it.  Still  earlier  in  date  are 
the  remains  of  a  stone  circle,  if  these  have  been 
rightly  identified.  Megalithic  remains,  however,  are 
very  rare  in  the  Alps. 

Dr.  Coolidge  ^  has  so  recently  given  a  succinct 
account  of  the  "  great  historical  passes  "  of  the  Alps, 
that  we  may  briefly  recapitulate  his  principal  con- 
clusions. The  southernmost  of  them  is  the  Col  de 
Tenda  (6,145  feet),  leading  from  Cuneo  to  Ventimiglia. 
This  does  not  appear  in  history,  though  probably 
well  known  at  an  earlier  date,  till  it  was  crossed  by 
Saracen  marauders  a.d.  906.  A  carriage-road  was 
constructed  over  it  between  1779  and  1782.  The  Col 
de  I'Argentiere  (6,545  feet),  already  mentioned,  from 
Cuneo  to  Barcelonnette,  was  certainly  known  to  the 
Romans.  The  Mont  Genevre  (  6,083  feet)  leads 
from  Briancon  to  Susa  and  Turin.  This  was 
crossed  by  Caesar  in  58  B.C.,  on  his  way  to  conquer 
Gaul,  and  is  mentioned  by  more  than  one  Roman 
author.  It  was  a  bone  of  contention  between 
Frank  and  Lombard  about  the  year  a.d.  574,  and  in 
later  times  formed  the  most  direct  route  from  France 
to  Italy.  The  carriage-road  across  it  was  completed 
in  1806,  but  ''though  once  in  the  very  first  rank  of 
Alpine  passes,  its  historical  importance  has  diminished 
steadily,  and  it  was  practically  quite  superseded  by 
the  Mont  Cenis."  That  pass  (6,893  ^eet)  is  first 
distinctly  mentioned  in  756,  when  it  was  crossed  by 
Pippin  and  was  afterwards  usually  traversed  by  the 
Frankish  kings  on  their  way  to  Lombardy.  The 
Hospice  on  the  summit  was  founded  by  Louis  the 
^   Ut  supra^  chap.  viii. 

315 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

Pious  about  the  year  820,  and  in  877  Charles  the 
Bald  died  there.  Royal  travellers  often  went  that 
way,  but  there  was  only  a  mule-path  over  it  till 
Napoleon  constructed  a  carriage-road  between  1803 
and  1 8 10.  The  so-called  Mont  Cenis  tunnel,  com- 
pleted in  1870,  pierces  the  watershed  seventeen  miles 
to  the  west  of  the  pass,  but  before  that  was  made 
the  ''Fell  railway"  (afterwards  removed)  was  con- 
structed on  the  latter  and  worked  for  three  years.  ^ 

The  next  important  pass  is  the  Little  St.  Bernard 
(7,179  feet),  which  ''was  certainly  crossed  by  Caesar 
on  his  last  journey  from  Gaul  to  Rome  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  in  49  B.C.,"  but  though 
probably  much  used  subsequently  by  Roman  officials, 
it  has  made  little  figure  in  history,  though  a  hospice 
existed  on  the  summit,  and  the  carriage-road  across  it 
was  not  completed  till  1871.  The  Great  St.  Bernard 
(8,111  feet),  which  has  been  already  mentioned  as 
known  to  the  Romans,  was  probably  frequented  even 
before  their  age,  and  never  ceased  to  be  one  of  the 
chief  thoroughfares  across  the  Alps. 

A  hospice  has  existed  on  the  summit  from  about 
the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  but  it  was  destroyed 
by  the  Saracens  and  again  founded  by  St.  Bernard 
of  Menthon,  who  died  about  108 1.  The  pass  was 
a  favourite  one  with  kings  and  pilgrims  on  their 
way  to  Rome,  the  last  important  occasion  being 
when  Napoleon,  in  the  month  of  May,  1800,  led  his 
army  across  it  to  invade  Italy  and  win  the  battle 
of  Marengo.  Its  practical  importance  has  disappeared 
with  the  construction  of  railways,  but  it  is  still  much 

^  See  for  an  interesting  account,  E.  Whymper,  "  Scrambles  in  the 
Alps,"  chap.  iii. 

316 


The  Alps  in  Relation  to  Man 

frequented  by  Pledmontese  labourers  in  spring  and 
autumn,  on  the  way  to  find  work  for  the  summer 
in  Switzerland.  A  carriage- road  across  it  was  not 
completed  till  1905,  and  in  former  days  the  dangers 
of  a  winter  crossing  were  often  great.  The  stories 
of  rescues  from  storm  and  snowdrift,  effected  by 
the  devoted  monks  and  their  dogs,  are  too  well 
known  to  need  recounting ;  but  a  grim  memorial  of 
what  sometimes  happened  could  formerly  be  seen  at 
the  Morgue,^  close  by  the  convent  on  the  summit. 
Here  the  bodies  of  those  who  had  perished  on  the 
journey  were  laid  for  identification,  the  mountain  air 
keeping  them  from  putrifying.  In  many  cases  they 
were  never  claimed.  So  a  mass  of  bones  covered  the 
floor,  and  round  the  walls  were  ranged  a  number  of 
corpses,  propped  up  against  it ;  the  flesh  all  shrivelled 
up  and  of  a  dark-brown  colour,  giving  a  hideous 
aspect  to  the  faces. 

The  two  passes  at  the  head  of  the  Saas  valley,  the 
Monte  Moro  (9,390  feet),  and  the  Antrona  Pass 
(9,331  feet),  both  leading  to  the  Val  d'Ossola,  were, 
notwithstanding  their  elevation,  routes  much  used  in 
the  Middle  Ages  between  Switzerland  and  Italy ; 
the  former  being  chiefly  of  local  value,  the  latter 
an  important  mercantile  route.  A  mule-track,  as  Dr. 
Coolidge  tells  us,  had  been  carried  over  both  by  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century ;  that  over  the  Moro 
at  its  beginning  ;  but  they  have  ceased  to  be  generally 
used  since  the  construction  of  the  Simplon  road. 
Difficulties  of  access,  especially  on  the  southern  side, 
made  this  pass,  though  so  much  lower — for  it  is  only 

^  This  is  taken  from  a  note  ,which  was  written  in  1856,  and  the 
Morgue  is  no  longer  open  to  view. 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

6,592  feet  in  height, — less  frequented  than  the  others 
prior  to  the  nineteenth  century,  but  a  Hospice  existed 
on  it  before  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth ;  and  in  the 
fifteenth  and  early  sixteenth  it  *'was  often  crossed  by 
the  Vallaisans  and  Swiss,  while  striving  to  seize  or  hold 
the  Val  d'Ossola."     But  the  pass  afterwards  declined 
in  favour  till  its  military  advantages — especially  that 
of  a  broad  open  valley  on  either  side  of  the  moun- 
tainous part — led  Napoleon   to    construct  a  road   on 
which  an  army  might  march  in  fighting  order.    Then  it 
at  once  rose  to  importance  ;  and  the  completion,  early 
in   1906,  of  the  tunnel  beneath  the  pass  has  made  it 
a  great  international  high-road.     Its  importance  will 
be  much  augmented  by  the  tunnel  under  the  Lotschen 
Pass,  completed  in  the  present  year  (191 1),  which  has 
materially  shortened  the  distance  from  Bale  to  Domo 
d'Ossola,   though    the    pass    itself  will  in    future  be 
but  little  frequented.    The  Lotschen  Pass  (8,842  feet), 
which  crosses  a  small  glacier,  was  at  one  time  much 
used,    and    the    Bernese   and    Valaisans   three  times 
fought   on    its   summit.      The  neighbouring  Gemmi 
Pass  (7,641  feet)   for  long  found  less  favour  because 
of  the  difficulties  of  the  descent  on  the  southern  side. 
These,    however,   were   to    a    great  extent   removed 
by  improvements   effected   about    1740.       But   even 
now  it  is  unsafe  to  ride  down  in  this  direction. 

A  carriage- road,  completed  in  1895,  crosses  the 
Oberland  range  at  the  Grimsel  Pass  (7,100  feet), 
ascending  the  narrow  valley  of  the  Aar  and  passing 
the  wonderful  ice-worn  rocks  around  the  lonely 
hospice,  and  another  connects  the  heads  of  the 
Rhone  and  Reuss  valleys  over  the  Furka  Pass 
(7,990  feet) ;  but  there  is  no  carriage-road  across  the 

318 


The  Alps  in   Relation   to   Man 

main  watershed  till  we  reach  the  St.  Gotthard  Pass, 
though  there  are  one  or  two  mule-tracks,  of  which 
the  Gries  Pass  (8,098  feet)  was  often  employed  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  notwithstanding  that  near  the  top  it 
crosses  a  small  glacier.  This,  however,  is  quite  flat, 
and  can  be  easily  traversed  by  beasts  of  burden. 
The  St.  Gotthard  (6,936  feet)  has  long  been  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  Alpine  passes, 
though  before  the  construction  of  the  carriage-road 
the  lower  parts  often  presented  very  serious  difficulties. 
Access  from  the  north  was  impeded  by  the  precipitous 
shores  of  the  Bay  of  Uri,  and  entrance  into  the  grassy 
basin  near  Hospenthal  was  blocked  by  the  Schollenen 
gorge.  On  the  other  side  were  three  rocky  defiles,  the 
middle  one,  that  above  Faido,  being  very  formidable. 
But  the  St.  Gotthard,  as  Dr.  Coolidge  states,  was  in 
use  before  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  ;  and 
not  long  after  that  became,  because  of  its  directness, 
one  of  the  great  high-roads  for  merchandise  between 
Germany  and  Italy.  The  carriage-road  over  the  pass 
was  finished  in  1830,  and  the  railway  tunnel,  with  the 
lines  leading  to  it,  was  opened  for  traffic  in  1881.  Its 
length  is  9J  miles,  one  entrance  being  at  Goschenen, 
the  other  at  Airolo,  so  the  traveller  by  it  misses 
the  grand  rock  scenery  of  the  Schollenen  gorge, 
though  the  effect  of  the  triple  "corkscrew "  tunnels 
near  Wasen,  and  the  two  pairs  of  similar  construction 
in  the  Faido  gorge,  add  much  to  the  interest  of  this 
route.  The  strategic  importance  of  the  St.  Gotthard 
was  demonstrated  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  in  the  war  between  the  Austrians  and  Rus- 
sians on  the  one  hand,  and  the  French  Republic  on 
the   other.     After   three   months'    hard    fighting   the 

319 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

Austrians  had  obtained  possession  of  the  heads  of  the 
valleys  of  the  Reuss  and  Rhone  and  captured  Zurich. 
They  then  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  Russian  forces, 
but  were  driven  back  into  the  mountains,  partly  by 
the  energy  of  Massena,  partly  by  the  blunders  of  the 
Ministers  at  Vienna.  But  they  still  held  a  strong 
position  on  the  Grimsel  Pass,  from  which  they  were  at 
last  driven.  Threats  and  bribery  combined — the  latter 
taking  the  form  of  a  stony  tract  of  land,  the  Rate- 
richsboden — induced  a  peasant  of  Guttannen  to  lead 
a  detachment  of  French  troops  by  a  difficult  route  far 
above  the  right  bank  of  the  Aar  till  they  descended, 
as  it  were  from  the  glaciers,  close  to  the  summit  of  the 
Grimsel  Pass,^  while  the  main  body,  under  General 
Gudin,  kept  the  Austrians  occupied  by  a  front  attack 
up  the  Haslithal.  Taken  by  surprise,  the  latter 
retreated  at  full  speed  into  the  head  of  the  Rhone 
valley,  from  which  they  speedily  crossed  into  the 
Ticino  valley  by  the  Nufenen  Pass.  Lecourbe,  the 
French  general  in  the  Reuss  valley,  then  pushed  them 
back  to  the  Devil's  Bridge.  Here  they  made  a 
desperate  stand,  after  cutting  the  road  in  front  by 
blowing  up  one  of  the  side  arches.  It  was,  however, 
in  vain,  for  the  French  during  the  night  threw  planks 
across  the  chasm,  and  drove  their  enemies  back  into 
the  basin  of  Hospenthal.  Here,  however,  the  Austrians 
found  themselves  between  two  fires,  for  Gudin  was 
now  descending  from  the  Furka,  so  they  retired  over 

"■  In  the  summer  of  1858,  while  a  friend  and  myself  were  wandering 
about  some  height  above  the  top  of  the  Grimsel  Pass,  each  of  us 
picked  up,  on  the  turf  below  a  crag,  a  round  bullet,  slightly  flattened 
by  impact,  which  we  thought  had  probably  been  fired  at  the  French 
as  they  were  descending. 

320 


The  Alps  in    Relation  to  Man 

the  Oberalp  Pass  and  were  ultimately  driven  some  way 
down  the  Vorder-Rheinthal.  A  little  later  in  the  year 
Suvaroff,  coming  from  the  south  with  one  detachment 
of  a  Russian  army,  drove  the  French,  after  fierce 
fighting,  from  the  St.  Gotthard  Pass,  while  Rosenberg 
with  another  one  crossed  by  the  Lukmanier  Pass  to 
the  head  of  the  Rheinthal,  and  compelled  the  French 
troops  to  retreat  over  the  Oberalp  Pass.  Lecourbe 
evacuated  the  open  basin  of  Andermatt,  blocking  the 
Urnerloch  and  breaking  the  roadway  at  the  Devils 
Bridge.  At  this  yawning  gulf  a  desperate  struggle 
took  place  next  day,  numbers  of  the  Russians  falling 
into  the  torrent,  either  disabled  by  wounds  or  thrust 
over  the  brink  by  the  forward  pressure  of  their 
friends,  till  at  last  Suvaroff  turned  the  position  by 
means  of  the  rocks  on  the  left  bank  of  the  torrent, 
and  drove  Lecourbe  down  the  valley  to  the  Lake  of 
Lucerne.  But  it  was  too  late.  He  found  that  the 
latter  had  carried  off  all  the  boats  ;  the  precipitous 
shores  of  the  Bay  of  Uri  were  then  impracticable  for 
an  army,  and  his  foes  were  daily  increasing  in  strength. 
Further  advance  was  thus  becoming  hopeless  and 
delay  was  dangerous,  so  Suvaroff  led  his  troops  across 
the  Kinzigkulm  (6,8 ii  feet)  into  the  head  of  the 
Muottathal,  then  fought  his  way  over  the  Pragel 
Pass  (5,099  feet),  and  after  vainly  endeavouring  to 
drive  the  French  out  of  the  lower  part  of  the  Linththal, 
made  his  way  up  the  Sernfthal,  and  over  the  Panixer 
Pass  (7,897  feet)  to  Ilanz  in  the  Rhine  valley.  Here  he 
was  comparatively  safe,  but  he  was  without  artillery, 
which  he  had  been  forced  to  throw  into  the  Lake  of 
Lucerne,  and  had  lost  more  than  a  third  of  his  men. 
So  the  St.   Gotthard  Pass,  with  those  leading  to  it, 

321  X 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

remained  in  the  hands  of  the  French,  and  next  year 
Napoleon  sent  the  left  wing  of  his  army,  16,000 
strong,  across  it,  while  he  led  the  main  body  over  the 
Great  St.  Bernard.  At  the  present  day  the  Swiss 
evidently  regard  the  St.  Gotthard  as  one  of  the  keys 
of  their  fatherland,  for  they  have  constructed  strong 
forts,  which  they  are  still  augmenting,  to  command 
the  approach  to  the  southern  entrance  of  the  tunnel, 
and  to  block  the  Schollenen  defile,  besides  fortifying 
the  Furka  and  the  Oberalp  roads.  Evidently  they 
intend  to  prevent,  if  possible,  this  region  again  wit- 
nessing such  a  marching  and  countermarching  of 
alien  troops  as  it  did  near  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century. 

The  next  high-road  over  the  European  watershed 
is  the  Lukmanier,  which  leads  from  Biasca  in  the 
Ticino  valley  to  Disentis  in  the  Vorder-Rheinthal. 
As  its  highest  point  is  only  6,290  feet,  it  is  the  lowest 
pass  between  Switzerland  and  Italy,  except  the 
Maloja.  It  was  known  so  long  ago  as  965,  though  the 
carriage-road  was  only  completed  across  it  in  1877, 
but  it  is  little  used  by  tourists,  as  two  other  routes 
afford  a  more  direct  access  from  Italy  to  Eastern 
Switzerland.  The  more  western  of  these  is  the  San 
Bernardino  (6,769  feet),  which  goes  from  Bellinzona, 
near  the  head  of  the  Lago  Maggiore,  to  the  upper 
end  of  the  H inter- Rhein  valley.  It  was  well  known, 
according  to  Dr.  Coolidge,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  but 
the  difficulties  of  the  Via  Mala  gorge  long  kept  it,  as 
well  as  the  Splligen,  from  becoming  a  favourite  route 
till  the  completion  of  the  carriage-road  in  1823.  The 
scenery  is  not  remarkable,  though  that  of  the  valley, 
below  the  village  from  which  it  is  named,  is  attractive, 

322 


The  Alps  in   Relation  to  Man 

and   the  actual  pass  is  not  much  used  by  travellers. 

The    Spliigen   also   was    not    greatly    frequented    till 

the    carriage-road  over  it  was    finished  (in  the  same 

year  as  the  San  Bernardino),  for  the  Cardenell  gorge, 

on    its    southern    side,    is    a   second    and  formidable 

obstacle,   but  it  also  was  in  use  at  an  early  date,  and 

is    connected  with  an  important  historical  episode  in 

the  year  1800.     General  Macdonald  was  directed  by 

Napoleon   to    lead    a  division    of  the    French    army 

across  the  pass  to  co-operate  in  driving  the  Austrian 

troops  out  of  Lombardy.     He  reached  the  village  of 

SplUgen  on   November  26th,  when   the  early  winter 

snow    already    lay   deep   on    the    pass,    and   after   a 

prolonged  struggle  with  tourmentes  and  avalanches, 

finally  reunited  his  troops  at  the  valley  of  the  Liro, 

the    losses,    especially   of   the    rear    division    in    the 

Cardenell  gorge,  being  very  heavy. 

Far  more  important  than  these,  in  early  days,  was 
the  Septimer  Pass  (7,582  feet),  which  is  now  but 
seldom  used,  at  any  rate  by  the  ordinary  traveller. 
It  turns  off  from  Bivio-Stalla  (the  Roman  Biviurn)  in 
the  valley  of  the  Oberhalbstein  Rhine  and  descends 
on  Casaccia  in  the  Val  Bregaglia,  so  that  before  the 
days  of  carriage-roads  it  was  the  easiest  and  most 
direct  route  from  Coire  to  Chiavenna.  According  to 
Dr.  Coolidge,  it  is  mentioned  in  the  *'  Antonine 
Itinerary  "  and  the  Peutinger  Table  :  it  was  in  the 
earlier  Middle  Ages  the  great  route  from  Germany 
to  Italy,  and  a  hospice  was  first  founded  on  the 
summit  before  831. 

Four  carriage-roads  connect  the  upper  valleys  of 
the  Rhine  and  the  Inn  ;  the  northernmost,  originally 
completed  in  1824,  leads  by  Feldkirch  and  Bludenz 

323 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

over  the  Arlberg   Pass  (5,912  feet),   to    Landeck  on 
the  latter  river,  at  the  point  where  it  turns  sharply 
from  a  northern  to  an  eastern  course.     It  was  followed 
by  a   railway,   completed  in    1884,  which  avoids    the 
last  part  of  the  ascent  by  a  tunnel   rather  more  than 
six    miles    long.     The    scenery,    though    sometimes 
pretty,  is  not,  on  the  whole,  remarkable.     Next  comes 
the  road  over  the  Fliiela  Pass  (7,835  feet),  leading  from 
Davos  to  Siis  in  the  Engadine,  which  was  completed 
in    1867.      Of  this   also  the  scenery  is  not  striking, 
though  the  lonely    tarns    on  the   summit    are  rather 
impressive,  but  the  descent  from  Davos  to  Klosters 
and  along  the   Landquart  to  the  Rhine  is  here  and 
there  striking.     Farther  south  are  the  Albula  (7,595) 
and  the  Julier  (7,503  feet)   Passes.     They  diverge  at 
Tiefenkastel  on  the  Oberhalbstein  Rhine,  which  com- 
municated with  Thusis  and  the  main  valley  through 
the    Schyn    ravine.     As    this     for     long    was    only 
accessible  to  beasts  of  burden,  the  carriage-route  from 
Coire    was    carried   across    the    Lenzer    Heide    with 
an  ascent  and  a  descent  of  some   2,000   feet.     But 
a  carriage-road   was  made  through  this    magnificent 
gorge   in    1869,   and  a  railway  has   since  been  con- 
structed from  Thusis  to  Samaden,  which  pierces   the 
watershed  by  a  tunnel  3!  miles  in  length,   and  places 
Pontresina  and   St.   Moritz  in  direct  communication 
with   Boulogne.     It  follows  the   carriage-road  as  far 
as   Preda  (5,880),  and  then,  striking  off  to  the  S.E., 
emerges  in  the  Val  Bever,  a  picturesque  glen  between 
granitic    rocks,    which    joins    the    Inn    rather   below 
Samaden.     The  carriage-road  continues  to  climb  till 
it  reaches  the  Albula  Pass  and  descends  upon  Ponte, 
four  miles  below  the  last-named  townlet.    The  scenery 

324 


The   Alps  in   Relation  to  Man 

is  generally  not  remarkable,  but  that  on  the  western 
side,  to  a  point  rather  below  Preda,  is  often  very 
attractive. 

The  Julier  Pass,  which  diverges  to  the  south  at 
Tiefenkastel,  is  not  specially  interesting  on  its  western 
side,  but  commands  from  the  summit  a  fine  view  of 
the  snowy  peaks  in  the  Bernina  group.  Here  are 
two  pillars,  which  have  been  called  Roman  mile- 
stones, but,  according  to  Dr.  Coolidge,  they  are 
fragments  of  a  column  erected  as  a  boundary-stone, 
which  at  some  time,  near  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  was  broken  into  three  pieces,  of  which  one 
has  disappeared  and  another  was  set  up  in  the 
following  century  as  a  second  column. 

The  valley  of  the  Inn  is  also  connected  with  Italy 
by  the  Reschen  Scheideck,  which  leads,  as  already 
described,  from  that  river,  near  the  noted  Finster- 
mlinz  gorge,  to  the  trough-like  valley  of  the  Etsch; 
also  more  directly  by  the  Bernina  Pass  (7,645  feet) 
from  Samaden  and  Pontresina,  by  Poschiavo  to  Tirano 
in  the  Valtelline,  and  by  the  Maloja  Pass  (6,256 
feet),  which  follows  the  Inn  to  its  source  and  de- 
scends the  Val  Bregaglia  to  Chiavenna.  The  former  ' 
affords  magnificent  views  of  the  Bernina  group,  per- 
haps the  most  striking  being  that  obtained  from  the 
lower  part  of  the  ascent  near  the  end  of  the  Morteratsch 
glacier,  at  the  head  of  which  is  seen  the  noble  peak 
(13,304  feet)  from  which  the  group  is  named.  This 
pass,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  gives  a  grander 
succession  of  snowy  peaks  and  glaciers  than  any  other 
one  crossed   by  a   carriage-road.     The   Maloja  Pass 

^  An  electric  railway  which  keeps  near  the  line  of  the  old  mule- 
track  has  recently  been  constructed  across  it. 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 


I 


on  its  northern  side  is  much  less  striking  ;  though 
the  chain  of  lakes  between  its  summit  and  St.  Moritz 
is  attractive,  but  the  great  cliffs  forming  the  head  of 
the  Val  Bregaglia  and  the  whole  of  that  valley  are 
remarkably  fine.  The  Aprica,  the  Tonale,  and  the 
Stelvio  Passes  merely  connect  Italian  rivers,  the  first 
(3,875  feet)  leading  from  the  Valtelline  below  Tirano 
to  Edolo  on  the  Oglio.  It  affords,  however,  some 
very  pretty  and  rather  luxuriant  scenery  ;  the  second 
pass  (6,181  feet)  from  the  Etsch  (or  Adige)  valley,  a 
little  north  of  Trent,  to  Edolo,  offers  many  attractions 
to  geologists,  but  is  not  otherwise  remarkable  ;  while 
the  third — the  Stelvio — from  the  Baths  of  Bormio 
to  the  upper  part  of  the  Etsch  valley  at  Spondinig, 
is  noted  as  the  highest  carriage-road  in  the  Alps, 
for  its  summit  is  9,055  feet  above  the  sea.  From 
near  that,  and  during  much  of  the  descent,  most 
striking  views  are  obtained  of  the  snowy  summit 
of  the  Ortler. 

Prior  to  the  earlier  part  of  the  last  century, 
when  a  carriage-road  (completed  in  1825)  was  con- 
structed by  the  Austrian  Government,  the  Stelvio 
was  occasionally  crossed  by  armies,  but  it  served 
as  a  pass  only  in  case  of  necessity,  for  the  ascent 
on  the  northern  side  is  very  steep.  In  those  days 
the  Umbrail  Pass,  or  Wormserjoch,  which  is  both 
lower  (8,242  feet)  and  easy  of  access,  was  preferred 
as  the  route  from  the  Vintschgau  to  the  Lake  of 
Como.  The  Stelvio  is  wholly  in  Austrian  territory, 
but  the  northern  slope  of  the  Umbrail  belongs  to 
Switzerland,  and  the  Government  of  that  country 
completed  a  carriage-road  over  it  in  1901,  which 
joins  the  Stelvio  high  up  on  its  southern  side. 

326 


The  Alps  in    Relation  to  Man 

The  Brenner  Pass  is  Nature's  gateway  through 
the  rampart  of  the  Eastern  Alps,  and  '*  By  far  the 
lowest  of  all  the  Alpine  passes  across  the  main  chain. 
.  .  .  Reached  on  either  side  by  straight-drawn  valleys 
leading  up  to  a  single  ridge,  it  forms  a  natural  high- 
way over  the  Alps.  Its  authentic  history  starts  with 
the  passage  (15  B.C.)  of  Drusus,  the  stepson  of 
Augustus,  on  his  way  to  conquer  the  northern  Bar- 
barians, and  among  them  the  tribe  of  the  Breones, 
or  Breuni,  which  gave  its  name  for  ever  to  the 
pass,  and  had  its  name  embalmed  in  the  verses  of 
Horace.*''  It  was  a  great  highway  between  Italy 
and  Germany  in  Roman  times,  and  through  it,  no 
doubt,  the  northern  hosts  once  more  streamed  south- 
ward to  conquer  their  conquerors.  It  was  well  known 
to  Charles  the  Great ;  was  crossed  by  **  the  vast 
majority  of  the  Emperors  on  their  way  to  or  from 
Rome,"  being  the  route  followed  "on  at  least  one- 
half  of  these  expeditions." 

When  the  Habsburgers  became  masters  of  the 
Tyrol,  the  pass.  Dr.  Coolidge  tells  us,  lost  something 
of  its  character  as  an  international  highway,  but  the 
track  was  improved,  and  the  portion  of  it  which, 
as  usual  with  the  Roman  road-makers,  avoided  the 
defile  between  Klausen  and  Botzen  by  passing  above 
the  cliffs,  was  abandoned  for  one  down  it — the 
Kuntersweg — which  still  commemorates  the  name 
of  its  maker  or  improver,  Heinrich  Kunter  of  the 
latter  place.  Early  in  the  fifteenth  century  the  rise 
of  the  Venetian  power  threatened  to  divert  traffic 
from  the  Brenner  to  the  Ampezzo  and  the  Toblach 
Passes,  as  this  more  eastern  route  ''kept  the  merchants 
*  W.  A.  B.  Coolidge,  ut  supra^  p.  187. 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 


I 


on  their  journeys  for  the  longest  distance  on  Venetian 
territory,  while  it  was  easily  passable  for  light 
carriages  and  carts."  So  competition,  as  usual,  led 
to  improvement,  and  the  Brenner,  in  the  later  part 
of  the  fifteenth  century  was  made  equally  accessible. 
It  was  not,  however,  till  1772,  that  a  modern  carriage- 
road — the  first  of  its  kind — was  constructed  across 
it ;  and  though  its  military  value  to  Austria  ceased 
with  the  loss  of  her  Venetian  territory,  its  com- 
mercial was  so  great  that  a  railway,  also  the  first 
carried  over  the  Alps,  was  made  and  opened  for 
trafific  on  August  24,  1867.'  The  scenery  of  the 
pass,  though  generally  pleasant,  is  not  remarkable, 
for  it  affords  only  passing  glimpses  of  glaciers. 

The  Brenner  Pass  descends  on  the  south  into  the 
valley  of  the  Eisack,  an  important  tributary  of  the 
Etsch  or  Adige  ;  and  the  watershed  between  that 
river,  and  the  streams  flowing  to  the  Danube,  is  at 
the  head  of  the  Pusterthal,  a  long  trench  between  the 
southern  and  central  ranges.  So  flat  is  this  that  the 
water-parting  from  the  Drave  (3,951  feet)  is  barely 
perceptible.  Almost  at  the  head  of  the  Pusterthal  the 
road  to  Cortina  turns  off  to  the  south  through  a  natural 
gateway  in  the  mountains,  and  crosses  the  Ampezzo 
Pass  (5,066  feet)  to  that  town.  The  peculiar  structure 
of  these  passes  has  been  noticed  in  a  former  chapter. 

The  Brenner  Pass  is  the  last  great  high-road  across 
the  barrier  between  streams  flowing  to  the  Adriatic 

^  I  happened  to  cross  the  pass  by  the  carriage-road  a  few  days 
before  the  opening  of  the  railway,  and  noticed  the  great  pains  taken 
to  protect  the  new  slopes  with  wattles  in  a  diagonal  pattern,  and  by 
planting.  Again  crossing,  but  by  the  railway,  in  1872,  I  saw  that, 
except  in  one  or  two  places  where  the  struggle  between  man  and 
nature  still  continued,  this  had  been  successful. 

3^8 


The  Alps  in   Relation  to   Man 

and  the  Black  Sea,  though  there  are  some  passes  of 
minor  importance  leading  from  the  Gail  or  Upper 
Drave  to  the  Italian  valleys.  Those  which  cross 
"  the  sticks  of  the  eastern  fan  "  are  less  elevated  than 
the  passes  over  the  ranges  in  the  other  and  more 
western  part  of  the  chain,  and  though  certain  of  these 
make  some  figure  in  history,  we  must  leave  them 
without  further  notice  for  want  of  space.  The  great 
highway  of  the  Semmering,  connecting  Vienna  with 
Trieste,  and  now  crossed  by  a  railway,  is  almost 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  Alps,  as  the  term  is  ordin- 
arily understood,  and  the  physical  characteristics  of 
this  neigfibourhood  have  already  been  noticed. 

The  northern  range,  to  the  east  of  the  Lake  of 
Constance,  is  crossed  by  two  rather  low  passes,  over 
which  carriage-roads  have  been  made.  The  one 
(3,900  feet)  leads  from  Partenkirch  in  Bavaria  to 
Zirl  in  the  Innthal,  on  the  western  side  of  Innsbruck ; 
the  other,  from  Jenbach  to  the  east  of  that  city  to 
Wildbad  Kreuth  and  the  Tegern  See.  The  latter 
route  skirts  the  beautiful  Achen  See  (3,066  feet),  and 
almost  immediately  begins  to  descend  through  pine 
woods  to  the  picturesquely  situated  bathing  establish- 
ment, which  is  frequented  by  invalids  suffering  from 
nervous  affections  or  weakness  of  the  chest.  In  the 
lower  part  of  the  descent  the  scenery  around  the 
Tegern  See,  though  less  Alpine  in  character,  is  also 
very  attractive. 

From  the  above  notices  we  can  see  that  the  passes 
which  early  became  important  highways  (most  of 
them  still  continue  to  be,  though  the  construction 
of  railroads  and  reducing  the  final  ascent  by  tunnels 
through  the  ranges  tends  to  concentrate  the  traffic) 

329 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 


■ 


present  the  following  characteristics  :  a  marked  inter- 
ruption in  the  continuity  of  the  crest;  a  very  gentle 
gradient  in  the  uppermost  part,  while  the  ascent  to  this 
from  either  side  either  presents  no  serious  difficulties, 
or  such  as  can  be  turned  without  serious  difficulty  or 
danger.  As  a  rule,  these  passes  lie  well  below  the 
snow-line,  the  few  exceptions  being  in  positions  where 
no  easier  passage  could  possibly  be  found  in  the 
mountain  barrier. 

A  mountain  region  is,  from  its  physical  features, 
more  or  less  a  divider  of  nations  and  a  camp  of 
refuge  for  remnants  of  earlier  races.  That  is  so 
with  the  Alps,  though  the  political  boundaries  do  not 
always  correspond  with  the  geographical.  Speaking  in 
very  general  terms,  we  may  say  that  the  people  of  the 
northern  slopes  are  Teutonic,  of  the  western  French, 
and  of  the  southern  Italian ;  but  the  border-line 
between  the  first  and  second  is  a  rather  irregular 
one,  and  in  Switzerland,  as  might  be  expected,  the 
two  stocks  are  apt  to  be  mixed.  Probably  survivors 
of  the  Neolithic  race  may  yet  be  recognised  among 
the  Alpine  folk,  though  they  are  nowhere  con- 
spicuous in  any  one  part,  like  the  Basques  in  the 
Pyrenees.  Politically,  the  chain  is  shared  between 
Austria,  Bavaria,  Switzerland,  France,  and  Italy, 
and  the  national  do  not  always  correspond  with  the 
natural  boundaries.  Four  languages  are  spoken, 
German,  French,  Italian,  and  Romonsch,  of  which 
the  last,  like  the  second  and  third,  is  a  survivor  of 
the  Latin  tongue,  but  in  which  the  modifications 
make  it  an  exceptional  variety  of  the  Romance 
languages.  It  has  segregated  into  distinct  dia- 
lects, and  forms  linguistic  islands,   if  the   phrase   be 

330 


The  Alps  in    Relation  to  Man 

permissible.  The  boundaries  of  these  have  been  so 
carefully  described  by  Dr.  Coolidge  ^  that  it  will 
suffice  to  say  that  Romonsch  (forming  two  dialects) 
prevails  in  the  Vorder  and  parts  of  the  H  inter  Rhein 
valleys ;  that  another  variety,  called  Ladin,  is  the 
language  of  the  Engadine  or  upper  valley  of  the  Inn, 
and  that  farther  east  Ladin  islets  occur  in  the  region 
of  the  Dolomites.  In  the  same  way  there  are  insu- 
lated German-  or  French-speaking  districts,  enclosed 
by  or  projecting  into  Italian,  and  in  Switzerland  the 
boundary  between  these  two  districts  is  often  an 
irregular  one.  French,  for  example,  is  spoken  in 
the  Rhone  valley  up  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Sierre, 
and  German  afterwards ;  it  passes  beyond  the  Italian 
frontier  into  some  of  the  valleys  near  Monte  Viso, 
where  it  is  a  relic  of  Vaudois  emigrants  in  days  of 
persecution.  In  the  heads  of  other  valleys,  as,  for 
instance,  near  the  Mont  Cenis,  it  indicates  former 
relations  with  Dauphine,  and  the  fact  that  French 
is  the  language  of  the  Val  d'Aosta,^  including  its 
tributaries,  commemorates  the  ancient  connection  of 
this  district  with  the  Duchy  of  Burgundy.  Thus,  to 
use  Dr.  Coolidge's  words,  "  all  the  French-speaking 
districts  in  Italy  are  simply  relics  of  former  Dauphine 
or  Savoy  supremacy  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  Alps." 
The  Alps,  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  possess 
but  little  mineral  wealth,  and  the  difficulties  of  access 
have  for  long  considerably  detracted  from  the  value 
of  that  little.     For  the  same   reason  mountains  and 

'  "  The  Alps  in  Nature  and  History,"  pp.  66,  68. 

^  On  my  last  visit  to  Aosta  (in  1902)  it  appeared  to  me  that, 
since  the  opening  of  the  railway,  Italian  had  gained  ground  on 
French. 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

manufactories  were  formerly  incompatible,  but  in  this 
respect  things  are  changing.  The  Alps  possess  in 
their  torrents  an  inexhaustible  source  of  energy.  This 
was  at  first  only  utilised  in  the  lowlands,  and  for  such 
purposes  as  grinding  corn  or  sawing  wood.  The  next 
great  step  in  advance  was  applying  it,  when  the  need 
arose  for  driving  great  tunnels  through  lofty  ranges, 
to  condense  air  in  order  to  w^ork  the  boring-machines, 
and  at  the  same  time  improve  ventilation  ;  but  ad- 
vances in  the  application  of  electricity  opened  a  new 
and  rapidly  expanding  field  for  the  employment  of 
water-power.  Mills  and  factories,  thus  worked,  are 
extending  up  the  larger  valleys,  especially  in  Switzer- 
land, and  this  country  bids  fair  to  become  a  centre 
of  industries,  which  will  continue  to  prosper  when 
the  coal-fields  of  Great  Britain  are  exhausted.  To 
squander  its  national  capital  is,  for  Switzerland, 
almost  impossible,  so  long  as  its  snow-fields  and 
glaciers  endure.  This  is  equally  true  of  other  parts 
of  the  Alps  ;  but,  in  the  case  of  that  country,  its 
geographical  position  is  favourable,  perhaps  excep- 
tionally, to  the  importation  of  raw  fabrics  and  the 
distribution  of  manufactured  goods. 

Still,  though  factories  may  sometimes  be  seen  in 
mountain  glens,  though  light  railways  cross  passes 
and  ascend  to  points  of  view  not  far  below  the 
snow-line,  though  country  villages  are  lighted  by 
electricity,  agriculture,  in  a  somewhat  wide  sense  of 
the  word,  is  the  main  occupation  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Alps.  The  subject  has  already  been  mentioned 
in  the  chapter  dealing  with  their  vegetation ;  but 
something  must  be  added  in  reference  to  the  arrange- 
ments for  securing  the  benefits  of  their  higher  pastures. 


The  Alps  in  Relation  to   Man 

These  have  been  recently  so  fully  described  by  Dr. 
W.  A.  B.  Coolidge,  with  a  knowledge  and  experience 
so  far  exceeding  that  of  any  other  Englishman,  as  to 
render  needless  more  than  a  very  brief  summary. 
The  mountain  slopes,  near  or  between  the  upper 
margin  of  the  pine  forests  and  the  stony  wastes 
immediately  below  the  zone  of  eternal  snow,  form 
the  pasture   region,   the  alps,  as   they  are  called  by 


Fig.  i6. — Chalet  Village,  with  the  Sasso  di  Pelmo,  Dolomites. 

the  Swiss, ^  which  have  given  their  name  to  the  chain 
as  a  whole.  The  lower  part  is  mown  in  the  summer 
and  the  short  hay  is  stored  for  winter  fodder ;  but,  as 
the  grass  grows  quickly,  it  is  grazed  in  the  spring 
and  autumn.  On  these  slopes  huts  are  built  in  con- 
venient positions  and  at  different  altitudes,  so  as  to 

^  In  the  Tyrol  they  are  called  "aim";  in  the  French-speaking 
districts  the  term  "  montagne  "  is  often  used . 

333 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

divide  the  whole  re^^ion  into  three,  or  occasional! 
four,  strips.  The  lowest  cluster  of  huts  will  be 
between  5,000  and  6,000  feet  above  sea-level  ;  the 
highest  more  than  7,000  feet,  and,  in  the  southern 
districts,  even  over  8,000  feet.^  In  the  spring  the 
cattle  are  driven  up  to  the  lowest  group,  then  to 
the  next  one,  and  so  to  the  highest,  at  which  they 
spend  part  of  July  and  August — barely  a  month — 
and  then  descend  in  like  way.  The  milk  is  daily 
made  into  cheeses,  which  are  at  the  end  of  the  season 
divided  according  to  certain  rules,  for  in  many  cases 
the  herd  is  made  up  of  cows  belonging  to  several 
owners.  One  form  of  chalet  is  used  for  storing  the 
cheese,  another  for  sheltering  the  cattle  in  bad  weather, 
and  in  a  third  the  herdsmen,  often  three  in  number 
— two  men  of  middle  age  and  one  still  quite  young — 
live  and  sleep,  in  surroundings  which  would  make  the 
home  of  an  English  peasant  seem  luxurious.  But 
where  the  herd  is  large,  more  helpers  are  needed  ; 
sometimes,  also,  women  and  even  children  accompany 
the  men.  Hay  is  often  their  bed,  and  it  is  far  the 
cleaner  couch,  for  though  water  is  generally  plentiful, 
little  is  expended  in  washing  linen  or  person.  They 
seldom  taste  meat  or  wine  ;  they  bring  up  a  little 
black  bread  on  occasional  visits  to  the  village  below, 
and  live  chiefly  on  the  products  of  the  milk.  After 
the  first  curd  has  been  removed  from  the  cheese-pot, 
some  more  rennet  is  added  and  the  cauldron  again 
boiled  up.  That  produces  a  second  curd,  called  in 
some  places  serrd,  or  serac.  This,  which  tastes  like 
a  very  inferior  cream  cheese,  is  their  principal  food. 

*  The  Upper  Pousset  huts   above  Cogne  are  8,389  feet   above 
sea-level. 

334 


The  Alps  in  Relation   to   Man 

The  mode  of  living  is  rough,  hard,  and  sometimes 
even  squalid  ;  but  it  is  a  healthy  one,  and  the  Alpine 
peasant,  cut  off  from  newspapers,  books,  or  pastimes, 
and  with  occasional  intervals  of  enforced  idleness, 
acquires,  though  indefatigable  when  necessary,  the  art 
of  doing  nothing  at  all  with  entire  contentment.  The 
traveller,  detained  by  bad  weather  in  some  mountain 
bivouac,  finds  time  hang  heavy  on  his  hands,  but  his 
guides  and  porters  seem  able  to  while  it  away  by  an 
alternation  of  sleep  and  tobacco. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Alps,  as  might  be  expected 
from  the  geographical  conditions,  are  not  of  one  stock. 
The  people  in  the  mountains  of  Dauphine,  in  the  days 
when  I  was  familiar  with  them,  had  an  ill-nourished 
aspect.  That,  however,  improved  on  going  northward, 
the  Savoyards  being  the  best.  The  Tyrolese  are 
better  looking  than  the  Swiss,  who  cannot  be  called 
handsome  ;  but  both  these  Alpine  folk  are  a  sturdy 
race,  and  some  of  their  men  are  finely  developed.  The 
women  work  as  hard  as  the  other  sex,  and  in  conse- 
quence quickly  lose  the  bloom  of  youth.  They  share 
with  them  labour  in  the  field  and  the  carriage  of 
burdens.  It  is  astonishing  to  see  how  large  a  bundle 
of  hay  a  woman  can  bear  upon  her  head  and  shoul- 
ders, and  in  some  districts  a  female  porter  is  found 
more  easily  than  a  male  to  carry  one's  baggage ; 
not,  I  think,  because  the  men  consider  the  work 
derogatory,  but  because  they  have  other  which  is 
more  insistent.  When,  however,  porters  are  much 
in  request,  it  is  surprising  to  observe  what  weights 
these  men  can  carry  up  and  down  mountain  paths. 
A  few  years  ago  my  companion  and  I  had  engaged 
a  porter  to  carry  the  belongings  of  the  two  from  the 

335 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

inn  by  the  Lago  Ritom  down  to  Airolo,  and  these, 
as  we  thought,  made  a  reasonably  full  load.  To  our 
surprise  he  asked  if  he  might  also  take  a  bag — by 
no  means  a  little  one — from  an  over-heavy  lot  in 
charge  of  a  friend.  And  the  two  carried  their  loads 
apparently  without  much  effort.  But  men  thus  occu- 
pied, as  our  Chamonix  guide  told  us,  generally  break 
down  almost  before  reaching  middle-life.  Even  the 
children  begin,  at  an  early  age,  to  carry  their  little 
"  hottes,"  often  by  no  means  empty,  on  their  backs. 
Some  of  the  poorest  are  sent  out  daily,  during  the 
warmer  weather,  to  watch  cattle  or  goats  as  they  feed. 
The  latter,  for  the  most  part,  are  driven  to  places  on 
the  mountain  which  are  too  stony  to  be  satisfactory 
pasturage  for  cattle,  where  they  contrive  to  pick  up 
a  sufficient  sustenance  from  the  coarser  sorts  of 
grasses  and  all  kinds  of  young  shoots.  One  or  two 
lads,  often  clad  in  the  raggedest  of  garments,  have 
the  goats  in  charge,  leading  them  out  in  the  early 
morning,  and  not  returning  till  the  sun  is  low  in  the 
evening.  A  long  string  of  these  goats  used  to  come 
ambling  past  the  hotel  at  the  entrance  of  the  Val 
Piora  every  morning,  and  late  in  the  afternoon 
retraced  its  steps  to  the  main  valley.  The  litde  herd- 
boy's  chief  duties  seem  to  be  shouting  or  aiming  an 
admonitory  stone  at  some  goat  inclined  to  stray  into 
forbidden  spots  or  too  far  away  from  its  fellows.  On 
the  homeward  journey  no  guidance  is  needed;  and  it 
is  a  curious  sight  to  watch  the  goats,  as  they  pass 
along  a  village  street,  dropping  by  twos  and  threes 
out  of  the  ranks  and  turning  off  to  their  own  quarters. 
In  most  parts  of  Switzerland  and  the  Tyrol  sheep  are 
less   common   than    goats,    but   on   the    French   and 

^^6 


The  Alps  in  Relation  to  Man 

Italian  Alps  they  are  more  abundant,  especially  in 
the  summer,  when  great  herds  are  driven  up  from  the 
hot  lowlands  to  enjoy  the  cool  air  and  abundant  grass 
of  the  higher  Alps.  Sometimes  the  animals  are  con- 
ducted across  a  glacier,  which  affords  an  easy  passage, 
and  left  on  some  craggy  pastures  well  insulated  by 
snow-fields,  until  they  are  driven  back  in  the  autumn. 
A  few  may  have  perished,  but  the  excellent  condition 
of  the  others  is  a  sufficient  compensation.  During 
the  winter  the  cattle  and  other  animals  must  be  kept 
in  the  villages,  and  stall-fed.  The  lower  stage  of  a 
house  is  often  devoted  to  this  purpose,  the  living- 
rooms  being  approached  by  an  outside  staircase  ;  in 
others  there  is  a  separate  building.  The  hay  also  is 
stored  in  chalets,  which  are  frequently  raised  on  low 
stone  pillars  to  secure  the  contents  from  damp. 

When  forests  are  abundant,  as  in  most  parts  of  the 
Swiss  Alps  and  the  Tyrol,  the  buildings  are  generally 
constructed  of  wood,  with,  perhaps,  the  exception  of 
the  roof,  which  is  often  formed  of  stone  slabs,  some- 
times kept  in  place  by  more  solid  blocks  secured  by 
ropes.  The  irregular  outlines  and  ruddy  brown 
colouring  of  the  better  class  make  them  picturesque 
objects,  so  that  the  narrow  street  of  even  a  mountain 
village  is  very  attractive  to  the  artist.  The  Ober- 
land,  on  the  whole,  affords  the  best  examples,  which 
are  sometimes  ornamented  with  carving  and  bear 
quaint  inscriptions,  generally  with  a  religious  tone, 
some  of  them  being  quite  three  centuries  old.  Many 
of  these  have  been  photographed  by  Mr.  Walter 
Larden,^  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  his  intention  of 

^  Author  of  that  attractive  book  "  Recollections  of  an  Old 
Mountaineer"  (1910). 

337  Y 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

publishing  a  selection  of  them  will  be  carried  out.  In 
the  French  and  Italian  Alps,  where  forests  are  rarer 
(the  comparative  scarcity  of  which  often  impairs  the 
scenery  of  Dauphine),^  the  buildings  are  of  rough 
stone,  and  the  utmost  attempt  at  ornamentation  is  a 
coat  of  coarse  plaster,  afterwards  whitewashed.  But, 
putting  aside  a  very  few  instances  in  the  larger 
valleys,  buildings  of  any  architectural  merit  are  rare 
in  the  Alps,  though  the  quaint,  metal-covered  cupolas 
or  slender  spires  of  some  of  the  village  churches  in 
the  Tyrol  are  not  unattractive,  and  the  wooden  bridges 
protected  with  galleries  in  many  districts,  together  with 
occasional  ruined  castles,  not  seldom  gratify  an  artist 
making  a  tour,  like  Dr.  Syntax,  in  search  of  the 
picturesque.  On  the  Italian  side  the  tall  Romanesque 
campaniles,  though  plain  almost  to  severity,  are  not 
without  attractions  ;  here  and  there  in  Dauphine,  as 
at  Neuvache  in  the  Val  Clair^e  and  Ville  de  Val 
Louise,  a  really  ornamental  church  nestles  quite  in 
the  heart  of  the  mountains ;  but  in  most  parts  of  Savoy 
and  Switzerland  the  religious  buildings  have  few 
attractions.  That  is  not  surprising,  for  money  has 
always  been  scarce,  and  the  more  prosperous  parts 
of  the  latter  country  are,  with  few  exceptions,  strictly 
Protestant ;  those  of  that  creed  in  the  Alpine  regions 
generally  occupying  the  more  productive  parts,  and  in 
the  whole  country  outnumbering  the  Roman  Catholics 
in  the  proportion  of  nearly  three  to  two.  In  the  rest 
of  the  Alps,  though  the  descendants  of  the  Vaudois 
still  hold  their  own  in  the  part  of  Dauphine  where 
Felix  Neff  laboured,  and  in  the  Piedmontese  valleys, 

'  So  scarce  is  fuel  in  these  mountains  that  the  dung  of  cattle  is 
dried  on  the  chalet  walls  for  this  purpose. 

.  338 


The  Alps   in  Relation  to  Man 

which  were  the  goal  of  Henri  Arnaud  and  his  valiant 
followers,  the  great  majority  belong  to  the  Roman 
communion ;  and  among  the  Tyrolese  the  existence 
of  a  devout  religious  feeling  is  made  obvious,  even 
to  the  passing  traveller,  .not  only  by  the  numerous 
wayside  crosses  and  shrines,  but  also  by  the  de- 
meanour of  the  people. 


339 


CHAPTER  XIV 

FIFTY  YEARS   OF   CHANGE 

Travelling  in  the  Alps  was  a  very  different  matter 
half  a  century  ago  from  what  it  is  at  the  present  day. 
I  saw  them  for  the  first  time  in  1856,  when  I  took  a 
small  reading  party,  during  the  Long  Vacation  after 
my  degree,  to  Lausanne.  We  spent  part  of  the  time 
in  that  town,  another  part  at  Ouchy  on  the  shore  of 
Lake  Leman,  and  an  intervening  week  in  a  visit  to 
Chamonix  and  the  Great  St.  Bernard.  With  one  of 
them  I  went  from  London  to  Bale,  through  Belgium 
and  up  the  Rhine.  The  first  part  of  the  journey  was 
uncomfortable  enough.  We  had  a  rough  crossing 
from  Dover  to  Ostend,  and  arrived  too  late  for  the 
through  train  to  Cologne.  In  consequence  of  that, 
we  did  this  journey  in  a  jerky  fashion.  We  had  a 
halt  at  Ostend,  a  long  one  at  Ghent,  where  we  saw 
something  of  the  town,  another  long  one  for  part 
of  the  night  at  Aachen,  and  finally  reached  Cologne 
early  in  the  morning,  nearly  eighteen  hours  late. 
It  was  a  pleasant  change  to  a  steamer  on  the  Rhine, 
after  a  look  at  the  city  and  the  cathedral,  which  was 
still  not  much  advanced  from  the  incomplete  stage 
in  which  it  had  so  long  remained,  and  the  scenery  of 
the  historic  river  did  much  to  banish  fatigue  ;  though 
bed  at  Coblenz  was  welcome  after  being  two  days  and 

340 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

a  half  without  undressing.  Another  day  took  us  to 
Mainz.  The  next,  by  railway,  after  crossing  the 
Rhine  from  Ludwigshafen  to  Mannheim,  brought  us 
to  Bile,  where  we  arrived  in  the  evening.  Thence 
we  had  to  proceed  by  diligence.  The  regular  vehicle 
was  already  full,  so  we  were  sent  on  by  what  was  called 
a  supplement — that  meant  being  turned  out,  at  the  end 
of  every  stage,  into  a  fresh  carriage.  Sometimes  this 
was  comfortable — we  started  in  a  small  omnibus — 
sometimes  much  the  reverse.  For  one  stage  six 
persons  were  crowded  into  a  chaise  where  there  was 
none  too  much  room  for  four,  and  sensation  gradu- 
ally departed  from  our  tightly-locked  legs.  But  the 
dawn  after  an  almost  sleepless  night  was  pleasant. 
We  gladly  escaped  from  the  carriage  as  it  toiled  up 
the  slopes  of  the  Jura  towards  the  Pierre  Pertuis.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  fresh  sweet  morning  air,  the 
meadow  flowers,  the  peasants  with  their  scythes, 
jodelling  as  they  walked — the  first  time  we  had  heard 
those  strange  sounds,  so  musical  in  the  distance. 
After  we  had  reached  the  highest  point  on  the  road, 
a  drive  through  beautiful  rock  and  forest  scenery 
brought  us  down  to  Bienne,  where,  after  a  welcome 
breakfast,  we  were  taken  to  a  steamer,  which  carried 
us  along  the  two  lakes  (connected  by  a  canal)  to 
Yverdun  on  Lake  Neuchatel,  at  a  pace  which,  though 
more  leisurely  than  the  train,  gave  better  opportunity 
of  admiring  the  views.  From  Yverdun  to  Lausanne 
was  one  of  the  few  bits  of  railway  which  had  as  yet 
been  made  in  Switzerland,  and  by  this  we  arrived 
at  our  journey's  end  soon  after  midday. 

At  that  time  a  railway  from  Lausanne  to  Geneva 
was  in  process  of  construction,  but  as  only  a  part  of 

341 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

it  had  been  completed,  steamers  were  the  only  means 
of  travelling  from  one  end  of   Lake  Leman    to  the 
other.       From    Geneva    we    went   by   diligence    to 
Chamonix,  the  latter  part,   from  Sallanches,   in  light 
carriages,  called  char-a-bancs,  which  held  four  besides 
the  driver.     That   mountain   village  was  still  a  small 
place,  with  inns  of  only  moderate  size,   if  compared 
with  the  palatial  structures  of  modern  times  ;  and  even 
the  mountains  were  not  exactly  in  their  present  con- 
dition, for  the  Glacier  des  Bois  then  came  down  to  the 
level  of  the  Arve  valley,  and  the  Glacier  des  Bossons 
also  descended   considerably  lower  than  now.      We 
crossed  the  Mer  de  Glace   from   the  Montenvers  to 
the    Chapeau,  and   thus  obtained   our  first   ideas  of 
glacial    phenomena,    and   on    the   following    morning 
ascended  the  Br^vent,  where  a  fine  day  enabled  us  to 
appreciate  the  majesty  of  the  '*  Monarch   of   Moun- 
tains."    Thence  we  walked  over  the    Tete  Noir    to 
Martigny,    and   from    it   made   an    excursion    to    the 
Great   St.  Bernard ;  afterwards    travelling  in   a  dili- 
gence  down    the    Rhone  valley  to   Villeneuve.     On 
my   return   to  England   from    Lausanne    I    went   by 
Fribourg  and  Bern,  preferring  a  sight  of  these  two 
old  towns  and  another  view  of  the  Rhine  to  a  journey 
from  Pontarlier  across  France.     One   diligence  took 
me   to  Fribourg,  another    to    Bern,  and    a    third  to 
Bile,  from  which  I  returned  as  I  had  come. 

My  next  journey  was  in  1858,  when  we  got  by 
rail  as  far  as  Zurich,  and  had  a  long  tour  through 
Switzerland,  walking  over  the  Rigi  to  Lucerne,  then 
by  the  St.  Gotthard  road,  to  Andermatt,  and  over  the 
Furka  to  the  Grimsel,  from  which  the  Strahlegg  Pass 
took  us  for  the  first  time  into  the  heart  of  the  ice- 

342 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

world.  After  some  more  wanderings  in  the  Oberland, 
on  both  sides  of  the  range,  we  made  our  way  to 
Zermatt  and  crossed  the  New  Weissthor  to  the 
Val  Anzasca  and  the  ItaHan  Lakes,  returning,  after 
visiting  Milan,  Verona,  and  Venice,  by  the  Simplon. 
At  that  time  no  railways  had  advanced  anywhere 
into  the  mountain  zone,  and  hardly  any  carriage-roads, 
except  across  the  great  passes,  such  as  the  Simplon 
and  the  St.  Gotthard.  As  I  did  not  visit  the  Tyrol 
till  1867  I  cannot  speak  of  its  roads  from  personal 
knowledge  before  that  date,  but  they  were  even  then 
few  in  number,  for  Botzen  was  connected  with  Cortina 
d'Ampezzo  only  by  horse-tracks  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  Dolomites.  I  visited  Dauphlne  for  the 
first  time  in  i860,  when  there  was  already  an 
excellent  carriage-road  from  Grenoble  to  Brian^on 
over  the  Lautaret  Pass  and  another  from  the  latter 
town  down  the  valley  of  the  Durance,  but  in  the  rest 
of  that  mountain-land  there  was  nothing  better  than  a 
mule-path. 

In  fact,  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  decade  of  the  last 
century,  those  who  could  not  ride  or  walk,  had  to 
content  themselves  with  such  glimpses  of  the  Alps  as 
could  be  obtained  from  a  few  high-roads.  Since 
then  the  number  of  these  has  been  much  increased  ; 
carriages  can  now  be  taken  up  many  of  the  principal 
valleys  and  over  sundry  passes,  such  as  the  Great 
St.  Bernard,  the  Grimsel,  the  Furka,  and  the  Oberalp, 
which,  in  1858,  could  only  be  traversed  by  mules. 
Railways  also  now  not  only  link  all  the  principal 
towns  to  the  rest  of  Europe,  but  have  ascended  some 
of  the  larger  valleys  and  even  pierced  the  ranges.  In 
1863   I  visited  the  works  at  both  ends  of  the  so-called 

343 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

Mont  Cenis  tunnel.  On  the  northern  side  they  had 
penetrated  the  dark  schistose  rock  for  a  distance  of 
nearly  1,650  yards,  on  the  southern  of  about  1,200 
yards.  The  tunnel  was  opened  in  1871.  Then  came 
the  St.  Gotthard.  Up  to  1865  Fliielen  was  inaccessible 
to  carriages.  The  Axenstrasse  road  was  then  com- 
pleted, and  the  railway  was  begun  seven  years  later. 
In  1878,  I  remember  that  it  stopped  at  Goschenen  on 
one  side  and  at  Biasca  on  the  other.  It  was  then 
carried  to  Airolo,  and  the  tunnel  was  completed  in 
1880.  Railways  also  were  constructed  on  both  sides 
of  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  one  on  the  Swiss,  the  other  on 
the  new  French  territory,  effecting  a  junction  at  St. 
Maurice.  The  former  was  extended  in  sections  up 
the  Rhone  valley  to  Sion,  Sierre,  and  Visp,  until,  in 
1906,  the  great  tunnel  under  the  Simplon  Pass  was 
completed,  thus  affording  an  alternative  route  from 
Bale  to  Milan,  and  placing  those  parts  of  France  and 
Germany  which  border  on  Switzerland  in  more  direct 
communication  with  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Suez 
Canal.  But  to  reach  the  mouth  of  the  Simplon  tunnel 
from  Bale,  or  any  other  point  in  connection  with 
Western  Germany,  entails  a  considerable  detour  in 
avoiding  the  lower  buttresses  of  the  Alps  ;  trains  from 
the  north  joining  the  Rhone  valley  railway  at  Lau- 
sanne or  Vevey.  The  route  has  now  been  shortened 
by  a  railway  up  the  Kander  valley  from  the  Lake  of 
Thun,  which,  near  the  foot  of  the  noted  Gemmi 
Pass,  diverges  into  the  Gasterenthal,  pierces  the 
Oberland  range,  and  descends  the  Lotschenthal  to 
the  valley  of  the  Rhone  below  Visp.  A  glance  at 
a  map  of  Switzerland  and  the  adjacent  Alps  shows 
lines  of  railways,  following  valleys  to  their  heads,  and 

344 


Fifty  Years   of  Change 

giving  access  to  Alpine  centres,  like  Zermatt,  or  Grin- 
delwald,  or  Chamonix.  The  Albula  Pass  has  been 
tunnelled,  the  Bernina  crossed  by  a  light  railway,  and 
the  same  process  of  penetration  has  been  extended 
to  the  Tyrolese,  the  French,  and  the  Italian  Alps.  In 
1873  I  crossed  the  Arlberg  Pass  in  a  diligence  ;  in  1887 
a  railway,  with  the  usual  summit  tunnel,  took  us  from 
Landeck  to  Zurich.  Aosta  is  in  railway  communica- 
tion with  Turin  ;  and  the  principal  places  in  the  French 
Alps  are,  or  soon  will  be,  linked  on  to  the  main  railway 
system.  To  mention  only  the  additions  to  these  means 
of  access,  which,  during  the  last  thirty  years  have  been 
carried  out  in  various  parts  of  the  Alpine  chain,  would  be 
to  write  a  tedious  catalogue,  so  it  may  suffice  to  say  that 
mountain  railways  have  been  constructed  to  favourite 
points  of  view,  like  Pilatus,  or  the  Rigi  (from  opposite 
sides).  You  can  be  hauled  or  pulled  up  to  pleasant 
resting  places,  such  as  Miirren,  the  Schynige  Platte, 
the  Monte  Salvatore  and  Monte  Generoso  ;  you  can 
travel  over  the  Klein  Scheidegg  from  Lauterbrunnen 
to  Grindelwald,  and  changing  trains  at  the  first  place, 
can  seat  yourself  in  a  carriage  on  the  electric  rack-and- 
pinion  ''Jungfrau  railway,"  commenced  in  1897,  ^.nd 
proceed  to  appreciate  the  scenery  of  the  High  Alps 
by  burrowing  like  a  mole  into  the  crags  of  the  Eiger. 
Mounting  at  first  in  the  open  over  pastures,  the  train 
halts  (I  quote  Baedeker,  one  of  the  most  accurate  of 
guide  books),  after  a  short  tunnel,  at  **  the  Eiger 
Glacier  Station  (7,640  feet).  Restaurant  with  veranda, 
D.  4  fr.,  in  a  scene  of  wild  magnificence."  A  little  way 
beyond  this  the  train  disappears  into  the  heart  of  the 
mountains,  arriving  after  2f  miles  at  *'  Station  Eiger- 
wand  (9,405  feet ;   buffet),  with  a  terrace  cut  out  of 

345 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

the  rock,  affording  a  view  of  the  Lake  of  Thun  and  a 
large  portion  of  N.  Switzerland.      Hence  the  railway 
tunnel    is    carried    on    to     the    (3J     miles)    Eismeer 
Station  (10,345  feet ;  Restaurant,  with  post-office,  and 
Zeiss  telescope)  on  the  S.E.  side  of  the  Eiger,  about 
130   feet   above    the   crevassed    Upper   Grindelwald- 
Fiescher  Glacier,  with  a  limited  but  very  fine  view  of  the 
Wetterhorner,  Schreckhorner,  Fiescherhorner,  Monch- 
joch,  &c."     The  line  is  now  being  carried  on  to  the 
Jungfrau  J och  (i  1,140  feet),  which  is  5J  miles  farther, 
where  the  visitor  will  ascend  to  the  Terminus  Jungfrau 
(13,428  feet),  from  which  he  will  be  duly  hauled  by  a 
lift  up  the  remaining  240  feet  to  the  summit  of  the 
mountain.     Much,    no    doubt,     is    gained    by    these 
facilities  of  access,  but  a  good  deal  is  also  lost.     It  is 
an  advantage,  with  few  if  any  drawbacks,  to  be  saved 
long  journeys,  often  hot,  dusty,  uncomfortable,  and  toil- 
some, up  almost  level  valleys,  trench-like  in  form,  such 
as  that  of  the  Rhone  from  Villeneuve  to  Brieg  ;  valleys 
marshy ^  and  sometimes  unsavoury  ;  haunts  of  flies  by 
day  and  mosquitoes  by  night ;  where  the  high  shoulders 
of  the  mountains  prevent  us,  as  a  rule,  from  obtaining 
more  than  the  merest  glimpses  of  the  glaciers  and  snow- 
peaks  by  which   they  are  crowned.      Here  and  there 
perhaps,  some  snow-clad  monarch  is  seen  up  a  side 
valley,  or  a  waterfall  plunges  grandly  down  a  crag  from 
an  upland   glen,  but   these    interludes    are  generally 
brief,  and  no  one  who  has  been  compelled  to  ensconce 
himself  in  the  int^rieur  of  a  diligence  will  ever  care  to 
repeat  the  process  if  it  can  be  avoided.     A  carriage 
was  much  more  pleasant,  but  that  mode  of  conveyance 
was  costly  for  the  solitary  traveller,  and  did  not  enable 
him  to  escape  the  heat,  dust,  and  other  discomforts. 

346 


Fifty   Years   of  Change 

A  flat  landscape,  like  the  bed  of  the  Rhone  Valley, 
suffers  no  appreciable  injury  from   the  presence  of  a 
railway,    and    the    most   enthusiastic    of    pedestrians 
willingly  avails  himself  of  one  of  its  carriages,  till  it 
deposits  him,  in  a  thankful  frame  of  mind,  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  valley  which  leads  to  his  favourite  mountain 
''centre."     But  in  many  of  these  valleys  a  railway  is 
a  serious  blemish  to  the  scenery  and  far  less  of  an 
advantage  to  the  traveller.     Even  the  St.  Gotthard 
may  serve  as  an   instance.     The  lower  part  of  the 
Reuss    Valley  from   Fllielen  to   Erstfeld  is  no  doubt 
flat   enough ;    nevertheless    its    fields,    orchards,    and 
copses  possess  a  charm  of  their  own,  while  in  front  the 
Bristenstock  rises  in  a  grand  pyramid  of  crags  flecked 
with   snow.      We   lose   something   of  this    from    the 
train,   though  perhaps    it    is   scenery  which  is    more 
enjoyable  from   a   carriage    than   on    foot.     Still,   we 
have   not  more  than  two  leagues  of  this,   for  imme- 
diately   beyond    Erstfeld    the    road    begins    its   long 
ascent.     For  the  next  eighteen  miles,  though  we  see 
little  of  snow-peaks  or  glaciers,  the  narrow  valley,  in 
places  almost  a  gorge,  with  its  huge  enclosing  crags, 
its  foreground  of  ice-worn   hummocks  and  scattered 
boulders,  among  which  bushes  twine  and  dark  pines 
cast   their   shadows,    affords    scenery   of    exceptional 
grandeur — scenery    through    which,    unless    one    has 
lingered  over  it  more  than  once,  it  is  a  great  loss  to 
be  hurried.     I  have  several   times  used  the  railway, 
and  that  thankfully,  when  I  wished  to  save  time  in  an 
examination  of  some  part  of  the  valley,  or  when  bound 
for  a  place  either  across  or  far  beyond  the  Alps,  but 
have  always  felt  that  I  had  to  set  a  loss  against  the 
gain.     Sometimes,    no  doubt,  we  get  from  the  rail- 

347 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

way  a  view,  only  to  be   obtained    from  it,   of  soi 
gorge  at  the  bottom  of  which  either  the  Reuss  itseli 
is  roaring,  or  a  tributary  torrent,  as  at  the  Pfaffen- 
sprung,    is  leaping   down,    but   even    that   is  only  a 
momentary     glimpse,     ended    by    a    plunge,     often 
instantaneous,  into  a  tunnel.     At  Goschenen  the  train 
disappears  altogether  from  the  light  of  day,  to  which 
it  does  not  return  till,  after  a  subterranean  journey  of 
9J  miles,   it  emerges  at  Airolo,  on    the  more  sunny 
bed  of  the  Ticino  valley.     Thus  the  railway  traveller 
misses  the  grandest  scene  in  the  glen  of  the  Reuss, 
that  near  the  DeviFs  Bridge,  as  noted  in  history  as  it 
is  in  legend.     Unhappily,  the    slender    old    arch,   to 
which  that  name  belonged,  has  now  collapsed  into  the 
torrent,    which,     when    the    carriage  -  road   was    con- 
structed,  was  spanned  by  one  much    more  safe  but 
far  less  picturesque.     Still,  the  grandeur  of  the  neigh- 
bouring rock  scenery  remains  unchanged,  while  the 
contrast  between  the  crag-closed  glen  at  one  end  of 
the  **  Hole  of  Uri  "  and  the  green  meadows  around 
Andermatt    at    the    other    is    so    abrupt    as    to    be 
almost  startling.     This,  with   not  a  little  of  the  rest, 
is  altogether  missed.    Corkscrew  tunnels  are  triumphs 
of  engineering,    but  afford  no    more  view   than    the 
bottom  of  a  mine,  and  we  burrow  through  three  of 
them  near  Wasen.     The  loss  on   the  southern  side 
of  the  pass  is  hardly  less.     From    Airolo  to    Rodi- 
Fiesso  the  valley  is  generally  open,  but  the  scenery, 
except  for  one  or  two  waterfalls,   is  not  remarkable, 
and  at  the  one  exception  to  this  rule — the  short  and 
rocky  gorge  of  Stalvedro — the  railway  plunges  into  a 
tunnel.     Some  of  the  finest  views  in  the  noted  gorge 
of  Faido  are  lost  by  the  railway  traveller,  who  gets 

348 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

but  rare  glimpses  of  the  narrow  glen  down  which  the 
torrent   leaps,   for   he    is   often   underground,  and    is 
carried  from  a  higher  to  a  lower  level  by  a  pair  of 
corkscrew  tunnels.    I  have  been  several  times  through 
this    part   of  the    valley    by   rail,    by   diligence,  and 
on  foot,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  while   the 
second,  supposing  a  good  place  has  been  secured,  is 
better  than  the  first,  the  third  is  far  superior  to  either. 
The  lover    of  mountain    scenery,    no   less   than  the 
geologist  who  seeks  to  understand  its  structure,  must 
be  content  to  go  on  foot  over  those  four  or  five  miles 
between  the  upper  and  the  lower   Levantina  valley. 
That  also  is  hardly  less  true  of  the  shorter  Biaschina 
ravine,  between  Lavorgo  and  Giornico,   where   also 
there  are  two  spiral    tunnels,   one    below  the   other, 
neither  of  them  much    less  than    a  mile   in   length. 
But   beyond    the    latter    place,    though  the  richness 
of   vegetation,    as    is    so    frequent   in   the   southern 
valleys,   begins  to  soften  the   stern  grandeur  of  the 
mountains,    the    traveller    by    train    in   summer-time 
realises  that  to  have  less  of  the  dust  and  some  pro- 
tection from  the  sun  is  no  small  advantage. 

The  Alps  have  become  far  more  accessible  during 
the  last  fifty  years,  and  this  has  entailed  many  other 
changes.  It  has  increased  the  number  and  altogether 
altered  the  style  of  the  hotels  in  the  chief  places  of 
resort ;  it  has  given  the  mountaineer  fairly  well- 
appointed  huts  instead  of  squalid  chalets,  and  the 
ordinary  traveller  comfortable  inns  instead  of  dirty 
auberges.  Within  my  knowledge  an  evolution  in  all 
parts— almost  a  revolution  in  some — has  been  in  process. 
This  has  been  so  marked  that  perhaps  the  younger 
travellers  of  the  present  day  will  hardly  believe  in  our 

349 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 


experiences  some  fifty  years  ago.  In  parts  of  four 
summers,  from  i860  to  1864,  I  was  walking  in  the 
Graian,  Tarentaise,  Maurienne,  and  Dauphin6  Alps. 
In  all  these  it  was  but  seldom  that  we  found  an  inn 
which  could  be  called  even  passable.  In  the  last 
district,  perhaps,  they  were  the  worst.  Fresh  meat 
often  could  not  be  obtained  ;  the  bread  and  the  wine 
alike  were  sour  ;  vermin  abounded.  To  escape  them 
was  impossible ;  they  despised  insect-powder ;  they 
waited  with  anticipatory  appetites  in  the  beds  ;  they 
leaped  or  crawled  on  their  prey  from  unsuspected 
corners.  An  old  peasant  in  Dauphin^,  quoted  by  the 
late  Edward  Whymper,i  remarked,  •*  As  for  fleas,  I 
don't  pretend  to  be  different  to  any  one  else — /  have 
them''  Doubtless  he  spoke  the  truth  ;  for,  as  I  am 
very  attractive  to  these  pests,  I  finished  the  morning 
toilette  by  putting  on  my  socks  and  boots.  Thus 
keeping  feet  and  ankles  bare  to  the  last,  I  could 
slaughter  singly  invaders  from  the  floor.  One  morn-i 
ing — and  the  hotel  was  in  some  respects  better  than 
others — I  arrested  the  careers  of  four  nimble  and  one-, 
slow-moving  insects.  It  was  no  wonder,  for  thefl 
ordinary  way  of  clearing  a  table  after  a  meal  was  to 
throw  on  to  the  floor  what  was  left  upon  the  plates,  to 
be  eaten  at  leisure  by  the  dogs.  Thus  the  bones,  with 
chance  dirt,  formed  an  "osseous  breccia,"  as  they  did 
in  the  rock  shelters  of  the  Dordogne.  Scrubbing- 
brushes,  soap,  and  hot  water  were  apparently  unknown 
luxuries  ;  dogs  ran  freely  in  and  out,  and  even  fowls, 
after  their  wont,  came  rambling  into  the  ground-floor 
rooms,  with  the  natural  consequences;  so  that  all  things 
which  are  lovers  of  dirt  were  plentiful.  Even  in 
»  "  Scrambles  Amongst  the  Alps  "  (1871),  p.  38. 


1 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

Switzerland  Pulex  irritans  was  by  no  means  rare. 
He  often  made  his  first  call  in  a  railway-carriage; 
sometimes  not  long  after  leaving  Calais,  certainly  by 
the  time  the  Alps  were  in  sight. 

In  the  better  inns  the  beds  were  usually  free,  but 
the  lurking  foe  awaited  the  unwary  in  unsuspected 
corners.  I  was  always  careful  to  prefer  a  cane-bottom 
chair  to  one  covered  with  any  plush-like  stuff,  and  to 
avoid  a  sofa.  In  the  year  1859  we  were  obliged  to 
pass  the  night  before  climbing  a  lofty  peak  at  a 
village  in  the  Vispthal.  There  was  no  inn,  and  the 
cur6  was  good  enough  to  receive  us  into  his  house. 
Notwithstanding  my  remonstrances,  he  insisted  on 
putting  me  into  his  own  bedroom.  He  was  a  rather 
refined  and  well-read  man,  and  on  shelves  in  that 
chamber  were  Latin  and  Greek  books,  with  which 
he  was  evidendy  familiar,  but  other  tenants  of  his 
couch  effectually  murdered  sleep.  Gradually  these 
nuisances  have  disappeared.  In  the  Tyrol  I  never 
found  them  troublesome,  but,  as  I  have  said,  my  ex- 
periences east  of  the  Rhine  did  not  begin  till  1867. 
But  when  I  returned  to  Dauphine  in  1887,  after 
twenty-three  years'  absence,  I  noted  a  marked  change. 
It  is  true  that,  as  I  was  running  a  geological  section 
across  this  part  of  the  Alps,  I  did  not  make  my  way  to 
such  places  as  La  Berarde  or  Ville  de  Val  Louise, 
which  once  merited  the  epithet  pulicosa  ;  but  all  along 
the  high-road  from  Grenoble  to  the  Mont  Genevre  the 
improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  cottages  and  the 
aspect  of  the  people  was  conspicuous ;  while  at ,  La 
Grave,  where  we  halted  for  three  or  four  days  to  study 
the  relations  of  the  sedimentary  and  crystalline  rocks, 
we  found  an  inn  which,  though  plain,  was  clean  and 

351 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

satisfactory.  Its  predecessor  twenty  years  before, 
though  far  from  reaching  the  lowest  depths,  was  dirty, 
uncomfortable,  and  altogether  justified  A.  W.  Moore's 
remark  that  **  there  was  nothing  stable  about  it  but 
the  smell."  At  Brianqon  also,  instead  of  the  stuffy 
and  far  from  clean  inn  up  in  the  town,  where  we  had 
suspected  something  unwholesomely  cooked  to  have 
been  served  at  dinner,  owing  to  the  sickness  that 
attacked  each  one  of  us  on  the  following  day,  we  found 
a  spacious  and  really  good  hotel  down  by  the  rail- 
way station,  both  of  which  had  come  into  existence 
since  the  old  days.  But  in  all  parts  of  the  Alps,  even 
in  Switzerland,  where,  as  I  have  said,  the  accommo- 
dation was  generally  satisfactory  enough  to  those  who 
could  dispense  with  luxuries,  the  changes  have  been 
very  marked.  Small  inns  have  been  converted  into 
grand  hotels,  and  half  a  dozen  or  more  have  taken 
the  place  of  the  one  which  existed  half  a  century 
ago.  It  will  suffice  to  give  two  or  three  instances,  for 
they  will  illustrate  what  has  happened  in  almost  every 
part  of  the  Alps.  When  the  late  T.  W.  Hinchliffi 
crossed  the  Trift  Joch  in  1857,  Zinal  was  only  a 
group  of  chalets.  In  i860  J.  C.  Hawkshaw  and  I, 
after  crossing  the  Col  Durand,  found  a  newly  con- 
structed '*  log-hut,"  with  two  little  bedrooms,  sweet 
with  fresh  pine-wood,  no  bigger  than  an  ordinary 
ship's  cabin,  and  a  small  salle-a-manger,  in  which  was 
a  bed  to  hold  a  couple.  In  1903  there  were  two  com- J 
modious  hotels,  and  now,  according  to  my  Baedeker 
of  1909,  there  are  three,  making  up  two  hundred, 
beds  between  them.  In  1858  Zermatt  had  but  two] 
hotels— the  Monte  Rosa,  under  M.  and  Mme.  Seiler,j 
'  "Peaks,  Passes,  and  Glaciers"  (1859)  p.  126. 

3S2 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

the  friends  of  all  Alpine  wanderers,  and  the  Mont 
Cervin,  which  was  slightly  the  larger  of  the  two.  The 
Riffelalp  Hotel  did  not  exist.  The  Riffelberg  was 
a  small  and  homely  place.  Needless  to  speak  of  the 
present,  when  trains  disgorge  passengers  by  scores. 
In  1883  I  crossed  from  the  Tosa  Falls  to  the  little 
village  of  Binn,  which  is  now  a  rather  favourite  resort 
for  lowland  Swiss  who  cannot  afford  expensive 
pensions.  There  I  spent  the  night  in  a  small  but 
thoroughly  comfortable  inn.  It  was  spotlessly  clean, 
looking  like  a  new  box,  as  well  it  might,  for,  as  the 
landlord  proved  to  me  on  a  subsequent  visit,  I  was 
the  first  person  who  slept  there.  In  the  sixties  and 
earlier  seventies  the  inn  at  Saas  Grund  was  a  very 
rough  and  none  too  clean  a  place.  In  the  first  decade 
of  this  century  I  spent  three  summer  holidays  there, 
and  found  it,  when  in  charge  of  Mme  Paris,  all  that 
one  could  desire.  But  the  transformation  of  Saas 
Fee  is  even  greater.  I  first  visited  that  alp  in 
i860,  which  even  then  had  become  noted  among 
climbers  for  its  magnificent  view.  We  used  to 
wonder  when  some  one  would  be  adventurous  enough 
to  add  to  the  chalet  village  a  little  mountain  inn,  which 
would  make  it  possible  to  enjoy  the  view  at  all  hours 
in  the  twenty-four,  and  would  shorten  the  route  to 
two  or  three  mountain  passes,  but  even  in  1874 
nothing  had  been  done.  Now  a  considerable  village 
has  sprung  up,  with  shops  full  ot  such  things  as 
visitors  are  supposed  to  want,  together  with  four  or 
five  big  caravanserais,  in  which  nearly  as  many  hun- 
dred guests  could  be  accommodated.  There  may  be 
more  now,  for  I  last  saw  the  place  in  1907.  In  1867 
Pontresina  was  a  rather  small  village  stretching  along 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

the  high-road,  and  almost  divided  into  two  parts.  In 
the  lower  one  were  two  inns,  neither  large — the 
"  Krone  "  and  the  "  Weisses  Kreutz,"  and  a  very  small 
one,  the  **  Capricorne,"  just  at  the  beginning  of  the 
upper  part.  When  I  was  last  there  (and  that  was 
before  the  railway  came)  in  1893,  the  road  had 
become  an  almost  continuous  street  of  shops,  the 
village  had  swelled  into  a  town,  and  I  could  not  ven- 
ture, without  referring  to  a  Baedeker  of  that  date,  to 
say  how  many  were  the  hotels,  most  of  them  of  a  size 
which  a  quarter  of  a  century  earlier  would  have  been 
deemed  gigantic.  The  prices  had  risen  in  proportion. 
One  incident,  trifling  in  itself,  served  to  show  how 
great  was  the  change.  From  the  Morteratsch  glacier 
one  can  return  to  Pontresina  by  either  a  carriage-road 
or  a  pleasant  path  through  the  fields.  I  was  coming 
back  one  evening,  passed  in  a  forgetful  moment  the 
right  turn-off,  and  thus  had  to  keep  to  the  road.  The 
weather  had  been  fine,  with  the  usual  results.  The 
carriages  taking  people  back  from  a  visit  to  the  glacier 
soon  began  to  overtake  me,  and  were  so  numerous 
that  I  walked  the  whole  way  through  a  continuous 
cloud  of  dust.  Samaden,  and  the  other  villages  higher 
up  the  Inn  valley,  have  undergone  similar  transfor- 
mations. The  Baths  of  St.  Moritz,  in  1867,  stood 
alone,  or  almost  so,  among  the  meadows.  In  1893 
it  was  a  crowded  watering-place,  full  of  inns,  shops, 
and  other  arrangements  for  easing  visitors  of  any 
superfluous  cash. 

The  Swiss  towns  also  have  been  wonderfully  altered, 
and  not  always  for  the  better.  Half  a  century  ago 
they  had  extended  but  little  beyond  the  limits  which 
they    had   occupied   during   the   later    Middle   Ages, 

354 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

when,  as  we  may  see  from  Scheuchzer's  illustrations,  ^ 
even  Bern  was  restricted,  except  for  a  small  *'  fore- 
gate  "  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Aar,  to  that 
singular  peninsula  bounded  and  defended  by  the 
river.  The  mediaeval  fortifications  on  the  western 
side,  of  which  traces  still  remain,  had  been  strengthened 
by  a  set  of  out-works  on  Vauban's  system,  but  other- 
wise the  seventeenth  century  had  made  little  change. 
In  1856  there  were  not  many  houses  across  the  Aar, 
and  the  town  still  retained  its  singularly  picturesque 
and  ancient  aspect.  Architects  had  not  yet  come  to 
convert  its  cathedral  into  a  structure  which  might  have 
been  erected  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  to 
smarten  up  everything  that  was  old,  to  erect  any 
number  of  modern  public  buildings,  and  to  run  up 
new  suburbs  on  the  other  side  of  the  Aar,  con- 
nected with  the  centre  of  the  original  city  by  great 
iron  bridges  spanning  the  river  on  the  same  level. 
In  1856  Lausanne  was  practically  separated  from 
Ouchy.  The  older  part  of  the  former  contained 
many  quaint  nooks.  The  restorer  had  not  yet 
swooped  down  on  its  cathedral  and  its  chateau. 
Ouchy  was  hardly  more  than  a  waterside  village, 
with  one  pleasant  hotel  which  faced  the  lake  ;  and  not 
far  from  it  was  a  picturesque  stone  tower  with  a 
pyramidal  roof,  of  which  I  have  a  sketch.  Now 
Lausanne,  expanded  far  beyond  its  ancient  limits 
in  more  than  one  direction,  has  crept  down  the 
hill  to  Ouchy,  the  union  with  which  has  been  com- 
pleted by  a  rope-railway.  There  are  streets  where  I 
remember  vineyards  and  gardens  in  which  I  used  to 
catch  butterflies.  The  buildings  of  an  hotel  have 
^  "  Itinera  Alpina"  (1723),  p.  323. 
355 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

encrusted  the  Ouchy  tower,  and  windows  have  been 
punched  through  its  walls,  till  it  has  been  as  severely 
"translated"  as  Bottom  the  weaver.  The  lake-side 
also  has  been  taken  in  hand  ;  the  natural  shore-line 
has  been  replaced  by  the  walls  of  quays  trespassing 
upon  the  water  and  planted  with  formal  lines  of  trees. 
At  Zurich,  in  1858,  I  sketched  a  similar  tower,  which 
stood  alone  a  short  distance  from  the  Hotel  Bellevue. 
That  has  disappeared,  and  the  lake  has  been  treated 
as  at  Ouchy,  with  the  result  of  substituting  the  formal 
and  the  ''commodious"  (to  use  a  favourite  epithet  of 
the  Georgian  era),  for  the  attractive  irregularity  of 
garden,  shrubbery,  and  lake  margin.  Lucerne  has 
been  similarly  transformed.  A  large  suburb  has  sprung 
up  around  the  railway  station,  non-existent  in  1858. 
The  outer  walls  of  the  old  town,  with  the  quaint  towers 
which  defended  its  northern  and  upper  side,  the  water- 
tower  on  the  Reuss  and  the  two  old  timber-built  bridges, 
one  with  the  grim  pictures  of  the  Dance  of  Death, 
happily  still  remain  ;  but  new  quays  have  encroached 
upon  the  lake,  and  are  linked  together  by  a  wide  and 
formal  bridge.  Sumptuous  hotels  have  sprung  up, 
thronged  by  the  nouveaux  riches  from  America  and 
elsewhere ;  while  a  crowd  of  ;^5-trippers  takes  its 
week  at  "lovely  Lucerne  "  in  equally  modern  caravan- 
serais. Much  of  the  old  has  been  replaced  by  new — 
among  it  a  gateway  and  part  of  the  town  wall, 
which  I  sketched  in  1858,  when  it  led  into  a  garden 
or  orchard.  The  site  is  now  covered  by  big  houses — 
not  far,  I  think,  from  the  Lucernerhof  Hotel.  All 
the  larger  towns  have  been  similarly  "translated." 
Klein  Basel  now  bristles  with  chimneys,  and  the 
old    wooden  bridge  connecting  it   with   the   frontier 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

town  of  Switzerland  has  disappeared,  being  replaced 
by  a  far  grander  stone  structure,  spanning  the  Rhine 
with  six  great  arches — more  convenient,  no  doubt, 
but  much  less  picturesque.  In  the  smaller  places  the 
log-built  houses  are  being  crowded  out  by  more  pre- 
tentious modern  dwellings,  smart  with  plaster  and 
painted  verandas.  Only  in  spots  beyond  the  reach 
of  railways  and  carriage-roads  does  something  remain 
of  life  in  the  Alps  as  it  used  to  be  fifty  years  ago. 
In  many  respects,  as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  the 
changes  have  been  gains,  but  there  are  others 
where  **the  old  was  better."  The  mountains  then 
were  restful  ;  now,  in  many  parts,  travel  is  a 
''scurry,"  a  railway  station  a  seething  crowd.  Most 
travellers  then  went  to  the  Alps  because  they  loved 
them.  They  needed  no  other  attractions  than  what 
Nature  could  provide — flowers  and  forests,  torrents 
and  waterfalls,  crags  and  peaks,  glaciers  and  snow- 
slopes.  Now,  whatever  may  be  the  grandeur  of  the 
scenery,  that  soon  palls  on  visitors  unless  they  can  get 
their  lawn-tennis  and  their  golf,  as  at  an  English 
watering-place.  In  old  times  one  seldom  returned 
home  from  the  Alps  without  some  addition  to  the 
number  of  one's  friends  ;  now  the  average  traveller 
is  unattractive,  and  a  crowded  salle-a-manger,  es- 
pecially with  the  much-vaunted  separate  tables,  gives 
no  opportunity  for  getting  so  far  as  acquaintance. 
The  modern  hotel  is  more  luxurious,  but  it  is  possible 
to  fare  over-sumptuously  even  on  an  Alpine  tour  ; 
and  being  number  144  in  a  caravanserai  is  a  very 
different  thing  to  the  home-like  feeling  of  an  inn 
which  was  not  too  large  for  host  and  guest  to  know 
something  one  of  another.     Old    mountaineers  look 

357 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

back  regretfully  to  such  friends  as  the  Sellers  at 
Zermatt  ;  their  beaming  faces  and  cordial  clasp  of  the 
hand  when  they  met  you  at  the  door,  the  kindly  fare- 
well when  you  reluctantly  went  away  ;  and  If  it  was 
over  a  mountain  pass  the  provision  sack  always 
proved  to  contain  some  fruit  or  a  little  bottle  of 
choicer  wine  than  had  been  charged  In  the  bill. 
And  there  were  others,  such  as  old  Jean  Tairaz  at 
Aosta  and  Wellig  at  the  Eggischhorn,  of  whom 
one  will  not  see  the  like  again. 

In  the  middle  of  the  last  century  many  districts  of 
the  Alps  were  almost  unknown  to  travellers.  Not  a 
few  of  the  greater  peaks  were  still  unclimbed ;  many 
of  the  more  difficult  glacier  passes  had  not  been 
attempted.  Some  of  the  more  remote  valleys  had 
been  seldom  penetrated,  at  any  rate  by  Englishmen. 
Thus  Alpine  travel  had  the  zest  of  novelty  and  some- 
times the  attraction  of  an  exploration.  The  climber, 
on  gaining  the  summit  of  a  virgin  peak,  felt  him- 
self to  be  **the  first  that  ever  burst  into  that  silent 
sea,"  where  the  mountain  ranges  rose  in  waves  of 
dazzling  snow.  There  was  a  spice  of  adventure,  as 
well  as  of  novelty  ;  little  commissariat  difficulties  to 
be  overcome,  a  certain  amount  of  forethought  needed, 
before  plunging  into  one  of  the  more  remote  districts. 
Of  some,  no  maps  worthy  of  the  name  existed.  At 
our  first  visit  to  Dauphind,  in  i860,  Bourcet's  map 
(1749-17  54)  was  the  only  one  to  be  obtained,  which, 
though  it  was  accurate  enough  for  the  lower  districts, 
delineated  the  higher  mountains  in  a  semi-pictorial 
style.  But  in  1862  Mr.  F.  F.  Tuckett,  before  making 
his  remarkably  successful  expedition,  received,  by  the 
courtesy  of  the  D^partement  de  la  Guerre  at  Paris,  a 

358 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

tracing  of  their  unpublished  survey  of  the  chief 
mountain  group,  a  photograph  of  which,  thanks  to 
his  kindness,  greatly  helped  us  in  our  subsequent 
visits.  A  survey  of  the  mountains  enclosing  Italy 
had  been  published  in  1845,  under  the  title  ''  Le 
Alpi  che  cingono  F Italia,''  but  it  was  often  mislead- 
ing in  the  higher  parts.  In  Switzerland  things  were 
better,  for  the  Federal  survey  was  at  work,  and 
had  begun  to  publish  its  excellent  maps.  As  a 
rule,  however,  travellers  depended  more  on  their 
guides,  and  often  carried  only  one  of  the  smaller 
general  maps  of  the  country,  which  did  well  enough 
for  ordinary  purposes.  But  on  the  history  of 
Alpine  maps  it  is  needless  to  enlarge ;  that  may 
be  gathered  from  Dr.  Coolidge's  comprehensive 
volume.  ^ 

The  foundation  of  the  English  Alpine  Club  gave 
a  great  impulse  to  mountain  climbing,  and  indirectly 
helped  in  making  the  Alps  themselves  more  acces- 
sible. The  story  of  its  inception  has  more  than  once 
been  told,  so  I  need  only  say  that  the  idea  origi- 
nated with  my  late  friend,  William  Mathews,  early 
in  1857,  and  it  rapidly  took  form  with  the  aid  of  E.  S. 
Kennedy,  whose  acquaintance  he  had  made  during 
the  summer,  so  that  the  Club  met  for  the  first  time  on 
December  22nd.  The  first  dinner  was  held  on  Feb- 
ruary 2,  1858,  when  Kennedy  was  elected  Vice- 
President,  and  T.  W.  Hinchliff,^  Secretary.  At  the 
end  of  March,  John  Ball,  whose  knowledge  of  the 
Alps    was    at    that    time     unrivalled,    was     elected 

^  "The   Alps  in   Nature  and   History."      See  especially  chap. 
ix. 

»  Author  of ''  Summer  Months  Among  the  Alps,"  1857. 

359 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

President.  I  The  list  of  members  originally  contained 
34  names.  It  had  increased  to  124  in  1859,  and  in 
191 1  had  risen  to  711.  The  new  club  was  not 
received  with  open  arms  by  "general  society."  The 
*' heavy  father,"  in  both  senses  of  the  term,  frowned 
upon  it  as  inciting  to  a  form  of  athletics  to  which  in 
the  days  of  his  youth  he  had  never  been  tempted, 
and  condemned  it  as  a  dangerous  and  purposeless 
pastime.  Newspapers,  with  the  Times  at  their  head, 
censured  or  scoffed.  Whenever  an  accident  did 
happen — which,  fortunately,  was  but  seldom  in  those 
early  days — letters,  more  or  less  fatuous,  were  indited 
by  persons  who  had  never  attempted  to  go  farther  than 
a  mule  would  carry  them,  and  an  editor  of  Murray's 
**  Guide  to  Switzerland"  stated,  as  *'a  remarkable 
fact,"  that  the  majority  of  the  persons  who  had  made 
the  ascent  of  Mont  Blanc  had  been  of  unsound  mind. 
But  the  members  of  the  Club  took  ''  Let  them  say  " 
for  their  motto,  and  went  on  climbing  and  exploring, 
and  unashamedly  describing  the  results  in  print. 
They  were  cautious  as  well  as  bold  climbers,  and 
thus,  in  the  early  days  of  the  Club,  accidents,  as  we 
have  already  said,  were  very  rare.  Among  them 
also  were  men  who  proved  that  they  could 
write  and  observe  as  well  as  climb,  and  strove  to 
follow  the  examples  of  H.  B.  de  Saussure  and  J.  D. 
Forbes ;  so  that  we  heard  less  and  less  of  the 
*'  greased-pole  "  swarmer  or  the  "  criminally  reckless  " 
mountaineer.  The  Club  made  its  first  literary  essay 
in  1859,  when  "  Peaks,  Passes,  and  Glaciers ;  a  series 

^  For  a  summary  of  particulars,  see  "  The  Alps  in  Nature  and 
History"  (W.  A.  B.  Coolidge),  pp.  234-37.  Also  W.  Longman, 
Alpine  Journal^  viii.  (Appendix,  chap.  iv.). 

360 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

of  Excursions  by  Members  of  the  Alpine  Club,"  was 
published,  under  the  editorship  of  John  Ball.  It  was 
illustrated  with  chromolithographs,  woodcuts, and  maps; 
the  last  interestinof  as  showings  the  advances  that  have 

o  o 

been  made  since  that  date  in  the  cartography  of  the 
Alps.  Among  the  fourteen  contributors  of  articles 
we  find,  in  addition  to  the  editor,  T.  W.  Hinchliff, 
E.  S.  Kennedy,  and  W.  Mathews,  Wills  (now  Sir 
Alfred),  and  J.  LI.  Davies,  both  happily  still  members 
of  the  Club,  though  they  have  passed  the  limit  of  four- 
score years,  together  with  men  of  mark  in  science  like 
Professor  J.  Tyndall  and  A.  C.  Ramsay,  afterwards 
Director-General  of  the  Geological  Survey  and  a 
knight.  Etna  was  the  only  mountain  included  which 
was  not  in  the  Alps,  and  for  it  the  writer,  the  late 
J.  F.  Hardy,  apologises,  since  it  has  the  further 
disqualification  of  not  being  nearly  **  13,000  feet 
high,  as  the  Catanians  vainly  pretend."  The  volume 
includes  a  first  ascent  of  the  Dom,  by  Davies  ;  of  the 
Grand  Combin,  then  called  the  Graffeneire,  by 
Mathews ;  and  of  the  Finsteraarhorn  (at  any  rate 
by  an  English  party),  from  the  pen  of  Hardy.  The 
second  series  of  "  Peaks,  Passes,  and  Glaciers,"  in  two 
volumes,  appeared  in  1862.  This  not  only  takes  a 
wider  range  in  the  Alps — the  Engadine  and  the 
Tyrol,  the  Cottian,  the  Dauphine,  and  the  Graian 
groups,  but  also  includes  excursions  in  the  Pyrenees, 
Norway,  and  Iceland.  It  describes  first  ascents  of  the 
Piz  Bernina  (by  English),  the  Schreckhorn,  and  the 
Aletschhorn,  the  Pelvoux  and  Monte  Viso,  the  Grand 
Paradis,  and  a  considerable  number  of  new  passes, 
among  which  the  Eiger  Joch  is  perhaps  the  most 
remarkable.        Two    chapters    deal    with     scientific 

361 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

questions,  and  tables  are  given  of  the  heights  of 
peaks  and  passes,  several  of  which  had  been  reached 
or  crossed  for  the  first  time  during  the  three  years 
since  the  publication  of  the  earlier  volume.  In 
March,  1863,  appeared  the  first  number  of  the  Alpine 
Journal,  which  is  now  in  its  twenty-sixth  volume.  Its 
pages  show — and  the  fact  is  interesting — how  the 
members  of  the  Club  gradually  widened  their  range. 
The  first  volume  contains  accounts  of  an  ascent  of 
El  Viejo,  an  extinct  or  quiescent  volcano  in  Nicaragua, 
and  a  note  on  Om  Shaumer,  one  of  the  peaks  of  the 
Sinai  group.  The  second  volume  is  almost  restricted 
to  the  Alps,  but  records  some  remarkable  successes, 
with,  unfortunately,  a  larger  list  of  accidents,  including 
that  (in  1865)  on  the  Matterhorn.  In  the  latter  part 
is  an  excellent  article  on  Alpine  Dangers,  by  L. 
Stephen,  than  whom  there  could  be  no  better  authority. 
The  third  volume,  covering  only  a  year  (1867),  includes 
the  Sierra  Nevada,  the  Eastern  Carpathians,  and 
two  journeys  in  the  Himalayas.  It  also  describes  a 
winter  visit  to  Grindelwald,  during  which  the 
Strahlegg  and  Finsteraar  Joch  were  crossed.  The 
fourth  volume  includes  the  Caucasus,  when  Kasbek 
and  one  summit  of  Elbruz  ^  were  ascended  by  C.  C. 
Tucker,  H.  W.  Moore  and  D.  W.  Freshfield,  and  parts 
of  the  Himalayas,  besides  some  European  mountain 
districts  other  than  the  Alps,  gives  an  account  of  an 
ascent  of  Popocatepetl,  and  of  a  winter  excursion  to 
Grindelwald  in  1866,  when  the  two  above-named  passes 
were  combined  in  a  single  excursion  by  H.  Walker 
and  A.  W.  Moore,  together  with  a  winter  visit  by  the 

»  The  other  one  was  climbed  in   1874,  by  F.   Gardiner,  F.  C 
Grove,  and  H.  Walker. 

362 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

latter  to  Dauphin6  in  1867,  when  he  crossed  the  Col 
de  Goleon  and  the  much  more  difficult  Breche  de 
la  Meije.  Other  volumes  record  successful  attacks, 
dating  from  1884,  upon  the  highest  peaks  and  passes 
of  the  Caucasus,  followed  by  those  on  some  of  the 
giants  in  the  Himalayas  and  Karakorams,  during 
the  later  of  which  heights  above  22,000  feet  were 
reached  by  W.  M.  Conway  and  the  Hon.  C.  G. 
Bruce,  by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Bullock-Workman,  and  by 
Dr.  T.  G.  Longstaff.  But  the  Alpine  Club  might 
now  venture  to  take  for  its  motto  Qucb  regio  in 
terris  nostri  est  non  plena  laboris.  We  need  only 
add  that  the  illustrations  in  colour  soon  drop  out  of 
the  volumes  ;  wood-engravings,  among  which  E. 
Whymper's  work  becomes  evident,  take  their  place  ; 
and  in  volume  x.  reproduced  photographs  begin  to 
appear.  These  increase  in  number  and  excellence, 
before  long  replacing  wood-engravings,  till  in  the 
twenty-fourth  volume  there  are  no  less  than  eighty-five. 
The  countries  which  could  claim  a  share  in  the 
Alps  soon  began  to  follow  the  example  of  England. 
Austria  was  the  first,  its  Alpine  Club  being  founded  in 
1862.  The  Swiss  Alpine  Club  was  founded  before 
the  Italian,  after  the  climbing  season  of  1863.  The 
German  Alpine  Club  dates  from  1869,  and  in  1873  ^^ 
was  fused  with  the  Austrian,  under  the  title  "  German 
and  Austrian  Alpine  Club."  In  the  following  year  the 
French  Alpine  Club  was  instituted,  and  our  example 
has  since  been  followed  on  the  American  continent 
and  at  the  Antipodes. ^     In  the  Continental  societies, 

^  An  admirable  sketch  of  the  progress  of  mountaineering,  by  C. 
Pilkington  (President,  1896-98)  is  given  in  the  Alpine  Journal^ 
vol.  xxiv.  p.  15  (read  on  Feb.  4,  1908),  and  an  account  of  the  jubilee  of 

363 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 

however,  unless  I  mistake,  the  standard  of  qualifica- 
tion as  a  climber,  expected  from  a  candidate  for 
admission,  is  generally  lower  than  in  the  English  Club. 
The  exertions  of  the  societies  having  territorial  claims 
in  the  Alps  have  done  much  to  smooth  the  path  of 
visitors.  They  have  established  numerous  huts,  as 
sleeping-places  before  making  the  more  important 
and  long  expeditions  ;  and  some  of  these  are  almost 
luxurious  compared  with  the  squalid  chalets  or  shelters 
under  a  rock  of  the  old  days.  They  have  exercised  a 
salutary  influence  on  the  keepers  of  the  smaller 
mountain  inns,  thus  greatly  improving  the  accommo- 
dation ;  they  have  made  or  bettered  the  tracks  leading 
to  points  of  view  within  the  reach  of  the  ordinary 
traveller,  marking  the  way  to  each  by  signs  readily 
followed,  and  enabling  him  to  wander  at  will  over  the 
mountain-side  without  the  sense  of  restraint  which  is 
generally  felt  when  a  guide  is  brought  for  no  other 
purpose  than  to  indicate  the  way  ;  for  in  the  moun- 
tains, though  congenial  company  is  best  of  all,  solitude 
often  has  its  charms.  So  every  one  who  of  late  years 
has  visited  the  places  of  ordinary  resort  has  good 
reason  for  being  grateful  to  the  Alpine  Club  of  that 
country.  He  will  regard  with  similar  feelings  the 
compilers  of  guide-books,  which  are  now  excellent. 
The  first  advance  was  made,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  English  Alpine  Club,  by  the  publication,  in  1863, 
of  a  Guide  to  the  Western  Alps,  under  the  editorship 
of  John  Ball,  whose  knowledge  of  the  chain  as  a  whole 
was  in  his  day  unequalled.     It  reached  a  third  edition 

the  Alpine  Club,  celebrated  on  December  16  and  17,  1907  will  be 
found  at  p.  29.  It  was  stated  (p.  58)  that  the  number  of  daughter 
Clubs  was  then  166. 

364 


31.      A    MOUNTAIN    HUT — OUTSIDE   AND    INSIDK. 
(From photographs  by  Mrs.  Aubrey  Le  Blond.) 


To  face  p.  364, 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

in  1870 ;  and  a  fourth,  reconstructed,  revised, 
augmented,  and  edited  by  W.  A.  B.  Coolidge,  was 
published  in  1898.  The  volume  containing  the 
Central  Alps  originally  appeared  in  1864,  and  has 
been  similarly  reconstituted.  It  has  been  published  in 
two  parts,  the  first  issued  in  1907,  under  the  general 
editorship  of  A.  V.  Valentine- Richards,  the  second  in 
191 1  under  that  of  G.  Broke.  Ball's  volume  on  the 
Eastern  Alps  was  not  completed  till  1868,  and  has  not 
yet  been  re-edited.  Of  other  guide-books  in  English, 
which  cover  a  wider  area  than  the  mountains,  the 
well-known  volumes  of  Murray's  Guide  must  not 
be  forgotten,  of  which  revised  and  much  improved 
editions  have  been  published  from  time  to  time ;  or 
the  admirable  Handbooks  of  Baedeker,  which  bear 
on  almost  every  page  marks  of  the  scrupulous  care 
spent  in  bringing  them  up  to  date. 

These  Clubs  have  been  the  means  of  greatly 
improving  not  only  the  accommodation  for  travellers, 
but  also  the  quality  of  the  guides.  Fifty  years  ago, 
in  the  unfrequented  districts,  unless  some  chance 
chamois-hunters  were  available,  no  one  of  any  value 
above  the  snow-line  could  be  obtained.  Our  attempt 
upon  the  Pelvoux  in  i860  was  foiled,  after  we  had 
spent  two  rainy  nights  and  a  day  under  a  big  boulder, 
by  the  utter  incapacity  of  our  two  local  guides.  In 
the  Oberland,  at  Zermatt,  and  in  one  or  two  other 
places,  there  were  already  a  few  men  of  real  merit. 
So  there  were  at  Chamonix,  where  for  some  time  past 
a  regularly  organised  body  had  existed  ;  which,  how- 
ever, was  a  forerunner  of  that  variety  of  trades-union 
which  hampers  rather  than  encourages  merit  by 
placing  wage  before  work.     Much,  however,  has  been 

365 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

done  even  with  this  unprogressive  body,  and  of  the . 
credit  for  that  the  English  Alpine  Club  may  claim  no 
small  share.  The  best  guides  from  that  centre  and 
from  the  Oberland  before  long  began  to  be  employed 
by  some  of  the  more  energetic  mountaineers  beyond 
the  limits  of  their  own  district,  and  in  later  years  all 
the  great  successes  in  the  Caucasus,  the  Himalayas 
and  the  Andes,  have  been  won  under  the  leadership 
of  these  or  their  successors.  How  they  were  valued 
and  held  in  affectionate  regard  by  their  employers,  is 
testified  in  every  book  of  mountain  travel. 

Many  particulars  of  the  development  of  Alpine 
climbing  will  be  found  in  Dr.  Coolidge's  volume,  and 
the  lists  given  in  its  pages  show  the  large  number  of 
great  peaks  scaled  and  difificult  passes  crossed  during 
the  last  five-and-fifty  years,  so  that  further  details  are 
needless.  Two  changes,  however,  in  the  character 
of  Alpine  climbing  may  be  briefly  noticed.  With 
some  of  its  younger  votaries  it  has  become  more 
definitely  a  form  of  gymnastics.  The  older  genera- 
tion sought  mainly  to  accomplish  an  ascent,  and  for 
that  purpose  adopted  the  most  obvious  and  safe 
route  ;  the  younger  often  seems  to  prefer  the  more 
difficult  and  even  the  more  dangerous.  It  sometimes 
incurs  risks,  which  in  earlier  days  would  have  been 
deemed  hardly  justifiable,  with  the  result  that  accidents 
are  less  rare  than  formerly.  Their  number  has  been 
greatly  increased  (but  for  the  most  part  outside  the 
limits  of  our  English  Alpine  Club)  by  the  habit  of 
climbing  without  guides.  This,  doubtless,  has  its 
attractions,  and,  when  undertaken  by  men  who  are 
in  vigorous  health  and  have  acquired  experience  from 
those   already   masters    of  the    craft,    is    thoroughly 

366 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

justifiable  ;  but  even  such  men,  if  the  expedition  is 
likely  to  be  long  and  difficult,  should  be  more 
cautious  in  regard  to  bad  weather  than  they  would 
otherwise  be,  because  they  may  find  themselves 
involved  in  some  unwonted  peril.  But  guideless 
climbing  is  not  for  novices.  The  dangers  of  the  Alps 
are  real,  and  no  little  practice  is  required  to  recognise 
where  they  are  latent.  There  are  times  when  a  single 
mistake  may  incur  the  penalty  of  death,  either  instan- 
taneous— from  the  breaking  cornice  or  the  rush  of  an 
avalanche,  from  falling  ice  or  stones — or  after  a  linger- 
ing struggle  with  cold  and  hunger.  Dozens  of  lives 
are  annually  sacrificed,  especially  among  the  Eastern 
Alps,  by  men  who  have  plunged  into  difficulties  with 
which  they  were  incompetent  to  grapple  ;  and  the  tale 
of  death  will  continue  to  increase,  unless  it  is  more 
widely  recognised  that  mountain  climbing,  as  distin- 
guished from  mountain  walking,  requires  not  only  a 
certain  innate  fitness,  but  also  a  preliminary  training. 
For  one  or  more  guideless  novices  to  attempt  a 
difficult  excursion  is  an  act  of  presumptuous  folly,  but 
the  risk  is  comparatively  small  to  those  who  have 
learnt  their  craft ;  while  an  expedition  in  company 
with  good  guides  does  not,  in  my  opinion,  involve 
much  more  risk  than  a  day's  hunting  to  a  man  who 
can  ride  well  to  hounds.  Death  may  come  in  either 
case  ;  a  falling  stone  or  some  other  unexpected  mis- 
chance may  strike  down  the  one,  just  as  a  horse's 
stumble,  or  mistake  at  a  fence,  may  be  fatal  to  the 
other.  As  the  well-known  nursery  rhyme  asserts,  the 
children,  if  they  had  stayed  at  home,  or  been  sliding 
on  dry  ground,  would  not  have  been  drowned  ;  but 
of  what  is  not  that   true  ?     Hardly  any  active  sport 

367 


The   Building  of  the  Alps 

or  form  of  travel  is  without  its  attendant  risks,  and  it 
is  my  deliberate  opinion  that  those  of  mountaineering, 
as  it  was  practised  by  the  earlier  members  of  our 
Alpine  Club,  are  comparatively  small,  and  that  they 
are  far  outweighed  by  its  rewards,  such  as  the  mag- 
nificence of  the  scenery,  and  the  enhanced  vigour 
imparted  to  body  and  mind. 

One  great  change  in  Alpine  travel  has  taken  place 
within  the  memory  of  the  present  writer.  Fifty  years 
ago  hardly  any  one  dreamed  of  visiting  the  higher 
Alps  before  the  spring  was  well  advanced,  or  after  the 
leaf  had  begun  to  fall.  In  the  mountain  valleys 
the  inns  often  were  not  opened  till  some  time  in 
the  month  of  June,  and  were  closed  in  October, 
if  not  before  the  end  of  September.  As  was  stated 
above,  one  or  two  daring  climbers  proved,  before  the 
Club  was  ten  years  old,  that  some  glacier  passes 
could  be  crossed  even  in  the  depth  of  winter,  but 
they  found  few  followers  ;  partly,  no  doubt,  because 
in  many  places  food  and  lodging  could  not  be 
obtained  at  that  season.  But  a  change  was  coming. 
Physicians  began  to  ascertain  that  the  old  methods 
of  treating  pulmonary  disease  were  in  many  cases 
erroneous,  and  that  mischievous  germs  multiplied 
far  more  slowly  in  fresh  air,  even  at  a  low  tem- 
perature, than  in  warm  and  more  or  less  stuffy 
rooms.  Davos,  about  1867,  began  to  be  frequented 
as  a  winter  health  resort  for  weakly,  and  especially 
consumptive,  patients.  After  a  time  St.  Moritz  laid 
itself  out  for  the  reception  of  invalids,  and  before  long 
the  tonic  virtues  of  the  Alpine  air  in  winter  were 
generally  appreciated.  It  was  then  discovered  that 
the  mountain  regions  at  this  season  could  be  made 

368 


•  •    •  •     *  • 


J^rom  a  drawing  by\ 


iAfr.  yose^h  PennelL 


32.      ON   STEEP   ROCKS. 


To  face  p.  36S. 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

not  less  attractive  than  in  the  summer  to  those  still 
in  full  vigour.  A  rink  had  only  to  be  constructed  to 
secure  skating  as  uninterrupted  as  in  Canada.  The 
toboggan  was  already  in  existence,  though  in  a  homely 
guise  ;  the  use  of  snowshoes  was  introduced  from 
Canada  and  of  skis  from  Scandinavia,  so  those  who 
came  in  summer  for  lawn-tennis  and  golf  returned 
in  winter  for  the  sports  of  that  season.  Year  by  year 
the  number  of  visitors  and  of  the  hotels  prepared  for 
their  reception  increased,  and  certain  centres  are  now 
said  to  be  not  less  crowded  in  winter  than  they  are  in 
summer.  Several  years  ago,  when  I  was  at  Montreal 
in  August,  I  was  told,  *'  But  you  should  come  and  see 
us  in  December  or  January — that  is  our  liveliest 
season."  Most  of  my  friends,  excluding  some  en- 
thusiastic climbers,  say  the  same  of  the  Alps.  The 
cold  is  much  more  severe  than  in  England,  but  with 
a  sensible  system  of  warming  instead  of  the  extrava- 
gant and  almost  useless  open  fires  so  dear  to  the 
British  nature,  it  is  not  felt  indoors  ;  and  outside  it 
can  be  kept  at  bay  with  proper  clothing.  On  a  bright 
day  also  the  heat  of  the  sun  is  greater  than  in  Eng- 
land, so  that  skaters  often  feel  no  need  of  an  over- 
coat. There  are  now  dozens  of  winter  resorts  at 
various  elevations  from  about  2,500  to  6,000  feet 
above  sea-level,  greatly  praised  by  those  who  fre- 
quent them.  But  of  the  Alps  in  winter  I  can  hardly 
speak  from  personal  experience.  For  many  years 
past  it  would  have  been  exceedingly  difficult  for  me 
to  leave  England  at  this  season,  and  I  have  so  little 
love  for  the  short  days  and  the  cold  of  winter  that 
I  have  always  doubted,  since  I  am  too  old  to  become 
expert  with  skis  and  snowshoes,  whether  in  my  case 

369  AA 


The  Building  of  the  Alps 


4 


"  the  game  would  be  worth  the  candle/'  To  myself 
no  small  part  of  the  pleasure  in  a  summer  visit  to  the 
Alps  is  found  on  those  delightful  days  when  one  lingers 
over  the  mountain  flowers  in  walking,  or  sits  for  a 
time  on  some  craggy  bank  to  marvel  at  the  beauties 
of  the  view.  This  in  the  winter  would  be  impossible, 
and  I  doubt  whether  the  great  white  pall  spread  over 
everything  would  ijot  be  a  rather  monotonous  sub- 
stitute for  the  *'  coat  of  many  colours  "  which  clothes 
the  meadows  and  slopes  in  the  summer  season. 
Though  I  have  never  stayed  in  the  Alps,  I  have 
twice  passed  through  them  in  the  winter,  and  the 
weather  on  one  occasion  was  perfect.  The  higher 
parts,  though  more  snow-clad  than  in  summer,  had 
not,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  gained  in  dignity.  The 
valleys  and  lower  slopes — all  up  to  rather  above 
the  tree-limit — though  the  great  sweeps  of  white 
possessed  a  certain  solemn  grandeur,  were  apt  to  be 
slightly  monotonous,  and  where  they  were  broken  by 
crags  presented  contrasts  rather  too  strong.  There 
was  great  beauty  in  the  snow-swathed  spires  of  the 
pines ;  but  the  forests  as  a  whole,  where  branches, 
bare  by  chance,  seemed  almost  black  from  contrast, 
had  a  chequered  aspect  which  was  sometimes  hardly 
pleasing ;  while  the  leafless  larch  branches,  simi- 
larly contrasted  with  the  white  sheet  from  which 
they  rose,  seemed,  if  one  may  venture  to  say  it, 
almost  shabby. 

One  zone  only  of  the  mountains  distinctly  gained 
in  beauty;  that  from  about  6,500  to  8,500  feet 
above  the  sea-level ;  for  it,  in  summer-time,  is  often 
without  either  the  grandeur  of  the  snowfields  or  the 
beauty  of  grassy  alps  and  woods ;  it  is  bare,   barren, 

370 


Fifty   Years  of  Change 

almost  dreary,  a  region  where  one  is  seldom  tempted 
to  linger — at  any  rate  to  examine  the  foreground 
scenery,  because  the  sparse  shrubs  are  stunted  and 
ragged,  the  herbage  is  coarse,  and  the  flowers  are 
comparatively  few.  But  in  the  winter  this  zone  is 
shrouded  in  the  purest  white — a  region  of  great 
undulations  and  domes  of  snow,  such  as  we  can  find 
in  summer  two  or  three  thousand  feet  higher  up  the 
mountains  ;  for  winter  in  the  Alps,  as  in  our  English 
highlands,  shows  what  their  aspect  may  have  been 
during  parts  of  the  Ice  Age.  Notwithstanding  this, 
we  must  lose  something ;  for  at  the  present  day  much 
of  the  charm  in  the  scenery  of  the  High  Alps  is  due 
to  the  passage  from  the  varied  colour  and  vigorous 
life  of  a  temperate  zone  to  the  strong  contrasts  and 
solemn  stillness  of  an  Arctic  region,  and  to  the  fact 
that,  even  when  we  have  reached  some  commanding 
position  among  the  Frost  King's  citadels,  we  can  see 
that  his  realm  is  but  an  island  in  a  wider  world  of 
colour,  and  growth,  and  life. 

The  greatly  increased  facilities  for  mountain  travel, 
like  railways  of  various  sorts  and  motor-carriages, 
and  the  consequent  large  increase  of  visitors,  have  not 
a  little  marred  the  charms  of  the  Alps.  Some  of  their 
ill-effects  have  been  already  noticed,  but  one  of  a 
more  general  character  may  be  mentioned  in  con- 
clusion. The  Alps  have  become,  in  a  wider  sense 
than  that  in  which  the  phrase  was  once  used,  "  The 
Playground  of  Europe,"  and  suffer  from  the  natural 
consequences.  The  tripper-tourist  ravages  the  flowers, 
leaving  as  a  substitute  egg-shells  and  torn  paper.  It 
is  not  yet  quite  true  to  say  of  him,  as  of  Attila's  horse, 
that  where  it  has  trodden  no  grass  will  grow ;  but  I 

371 


The  Building  of  the   Alps 

am  sure  that  some  of  the  most  interesting  or  beautiful 
Alpine  flowers  have  become  less  common — at  any  rate, 
where  tourists  most  do  congregate — than  they  formerly 
were.  The  holly  fern,  with  others  which  are  rarities 
in  Britain,  the  moss  campion  and  the  star  gentians, 
the  blue  columbine,  indeed,  almost  every  plant  con- 
spicuous for  the  beauty  of  its  flower,  are  perceptibly 
diminishing  in  number ;  while  the  edelweiss  has  been, 
in  some  districts,  almost  extirpated.  Fortunately  the 
Swiss,  at  any  rate,  have  become  alive  to  the  mischief, 
and  the  digging  up  of  rare  plants  is  forbidden  by  law  ; 
sanctuaries  are  established  for  them,  and  a  strong 
public  opinion  is  growing  up  against  this  wanton 
destruction.  We,  who  suffer  in  like  way  from  the 
plunderers  and  the  hooligans,  emitted  in  floods  from 
our  larger  towns,  cannot  but  wish  this  movement 
health  and  strength.  Time  was,  not  so  long  ago,  that 
protective  measures — not  for  living  things  only — were 
greatly  needed,  for  the  advertisement  had  begun  to 
penetrate  into  the  heart  of  the  mountains.  Some 
twenty  years  ago  I  saw,  in  the  higher  ^part  of  the 
valley  of  the  Reuss,  that  the  owner  of  a  chocolate 
factory  in  one  of  the  Swiss  towns  had  covered  with 
paint  to  match  the  colour  of  his  produce  a  particularly 
conspicuous  boulder — I  believe  the  one  which  plays  a 
part  in  the  legend  of  the  Devil's  Bridge — and  had 
inscribed  on  it,  in  big  white  letters,  the  address  of  his 
place  of  business.  Not  only  so,  but  on  reaching  the 
Bridge  itself,  I  found  that  a  large  area  on  the  wonder- 
fully even  surface  of  the  cliff  which  rises  so  grandly 
on  the  left  bank  at  that  place,  had  been  converted  by 
the  bill-sticker  to  his  own  uses,  was  painted  red  and 
inscribed  with  advertisements  of  hotels ;  while  at  the 

372 


Fifty  Years  of  Change 

top  of  all  was  depicted  a  figure  of  the  devil.  **  Very 
appropriate  "  was  the  comment  which  I  wrote  on  this 
finishing  touch,  soon  after  I  had  seen  it,  and  the 
time  which  has  passed  since  then  does  not  incline  me 
to  change  my  opinion.^ 

The  Alps — may  not  the  same  be  said  of  more  than 
one  other  country  ? — are  becoming  vulgarised.  To 
those  persons  who  apparently  regard  dress  and 
diversion,  festivities  and  amusements,  not  as  the 
exceptions,  but  as  the  rules  of  life,  that  may  seem  a 
trifling  matter ;  but  I  fear  that  the  words  of  Ruskin, 
who,  more  than  most  men,  had  entered  into  the  spirit 
of  the  Alps,  will  be  found  too  true  :  "  Two  years  ago, 
when  I  was  first  beginning  to  work  out  the  subject 
[of  vulgarity]  and  chatting  with  one  of  my  keenest- 
minded  friends,2  ...  I  casually  asked  him,  *  What  is 
vulgarity  ? '  merely  to  see  what  he  would  say,  not 
supposing  it  possible  to  get  a  sudden  answer.  He 
thought  for  about, a  minute,  then  answered  quietly, 
•It  is  merely  one  of  the  forms  of  death.'"  These 
words  appeared  in  i860,  and  I  am  afraid  that,  in  the 
half-century  which  has  passed  since  then,  they  have 
acquired  a  yet  more  ominous  significance  for  more 
than  one  nation  (not  excepting  our  own)  which 
claims  to  be  a  leader  in  civilisation  ;  since,  though 
there  is  much  to  justify  hope  for  the  future,  there  are 
also  not  a  few  symptoms  which  too  closely  resemble 
those  portending  the  decline  and  fall  of  Rome. 

^  Since  then  a  league  has  been  formed  for  the  Preservation  of 
Swiss  Scenery,  which  has  already  produced  good  effects,  and  a  branch 
of  it  has  been  established  in  England.  But  we  are  far  from  being 
ourselves  immaculate.  The  advertisement  fiend  does  his  best  every- 
where to  mar  the  beauty  of  our  own  country. 

2  "  Modern  Painters,"  part  ix.  chap.  vii. 

373 


APPENDICES 

APPENDIX   I 

I  HAVE  Stated  in  the  Preface,  as  an  excuse  for  maintaining  my  opinions  on 
certain  controversial  points  in  Alpine  geology,  that  they  had  not  been  hastily 
formed.  Altogether  I  have  visited  the  Alps  thirty-five  times,  generally 
remaining  from  three  to  five  weeks  among  the  mountains,  so  that  I  must 
have  spent  nearer  three  than  two  years  of  my  life  among  them.  Besides  this, 
I  have  six  times  merely  passed  through  the  chain  on  my  way  to  or  from 
Italy.  The  earlier  journeys  were  mainly  walking  tours,  in  which  much  ground 
was  covered  ;  the  later  were  more  often  spent  at  one  or  perhaps  two  centres. 
Almost  from  the  first  I  studied  the  action  of  ice  and  other  questions  of 
physiography,  but  was  not  more  interested  than  the  ordinary  geologist  in 
the  rocks  of  the  Alps  till  about  thirty-two  years  ago,  when,  after  working 
for  some  few  years  with  the  microscope  on  petrological  questions  in  Great  Britain, 
I  turned  to  the  Alps  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  light  on  some  of  my  difficulties, 
and  in  1880  made  my  first  journey  with  that  purpose  definitely  in  view. 

The  following  list  of  my  wanderings  will  show  that  I  have  seen  most 
parts  of  the  chain,  (i)  In  1856,  during  a  summer  spent  with  a  reading 
party  at  Lausanne,  I  visited  Chamonix  and  the  Great  St.  Bernard.  (2)  In 
1858  I  had  a  long  ramble  in  Central  Switzerland,  beginning  at  the  Lake 
of  Zurich,  crossing  from  Zermatt  to  the  Italian  Lakes,  and  returning,  after 
a  visit  to  Venice,  by  the  Simplon.  (3)  1859.  By  the  Gemmi  to  Zermatt, 
returning  with  some  divergence  by  the  Rhone  Valley.  (4)  i860.  Through 
Dauphine  and  the  Viso  district  to  Turin,  thence  by  the  Val  Tournanche  to 
Zermatt  and  Saas,  and  then  to  the  Italian  Lakes,  returning  by  the  Lepontine 
Alps  to  the  Vorder  Rhine  and  Glarus  district.  (5)  1861.  By  the  Gemmi  to 
Zermatt,  thence  by  the  Val  d'Aoste  to  Courmayeur  and  the  Italian  Lakes, 
returning  by  the  Splugen.  (6)  1862.  In  the  Tarentaise,  Graians,  and  Dauphine. 
(7)  1863.  In  Dauphine,  the  Maurienne,  and  the  Graians,  returning  by  the 
Great  St.  Bernard.  (8)  1864.  From  the  Lake  of  Geneva  by  a  mountain  route 
vid  Chamonix,  Courmayeur,  and  along  or  near  the  crest  of  the  Alps  to  the 
southern  side  of  the  Dauphine  peaks,  thence  by  La  Mure  and  Laffrey 
(Napoleon,  1815)  to  Grenoble.  (9)  1865.  In  the  Savoy  Alps  and  Western 
Oberland.  (10)  1867.  To  Pontresina  by  the  Albula  Pass;  thence  by  the  Val 
Viola  and  Stelvio  to  Trafoi,  Botzen,  the  Pusterthal  and  the  Cortina  district, 
returning  by  the  Brenner.  (11)  1868.  Zigzag  route  in  Glarus  Alps  to  Coire, 
thence  to  Pontresina,  the  Ortler  district,  and  Western  Tyrol,  returning  by  the 
Achensee  to  Munich.  (12)  1870.  In  the  Oberland.  (13)  1872.  The  Brenner 
to  Botzen;  through  the  Dolomites  to  Lienz,  and  ''across  country"  to  Salzburg; 
the  Salzkammergut.  (14)  1873.  By  Arlberg  and  upper  valley  of  Inn  to 
Pontresina ;  thence  by  the  Italian  Lakes  along  southern  valleys  of  the  Pennines 
to  Zermatt  and  Val  d'Herens.  (15)  1874.  By  Western  Oberland  and  St.  Lue 
to  Zermatt,  leaving  by  Val  d'Herens.    (16)  1875.    About  the  Pennines  between 

375 


Appendix  I 


Zermatt,  Courmayeur,  and  Chamonix.  (17)  1878.  Italian  Lakes  and  St. 
Gotthard  (halts  on  return  from  Italy).  (18)  1880.  To  Pontresina  by  Albula 
Pass ;  thence  south  of  the  Bernina  and  eastward  by  the  Adamello  district  to  the 
Dolomites,  returning  by  Brenner.  (19)  1881.  Saas  district ;  Simplon,  excursion 
to  Lago  Maggiore ;  Eggischhorn,  and  Belalp.  (20)  1883.  Lepontine  Alps  and 
Belalp.  (21)  1885.  Across  the  Alps  from  Maderanerthal  to  Italian  Lakes, 
returning  by  Great  St.  Bernard,  Champery,  and  Sixt.  (22)  1887.  Across  the 
Alps  through  Dauphine  and  through  the  Tyrol,  from  head  of  Pusterthal  to 
Kitzblihel ;  approaching  by  Lago  di  Garda  and  Trent,  and  returning  by  the  Inn 
valley  and  Arlberg.  (23)  1889.  Lepontine  Alps  and  Zermatt.  (24)  1891.  To 
Lepontine  Alps  by  the  Grimsel,  and  then  to  Saas  district ;  excursions  from 
Rhone  valley  on  return.  (25)  1893.  Lepontine  Alps.  By  Bernardino  Pass  to 
Coire  and  Pontresina,  returning  vid  Davos.  (26)  1895.  ^Y  Gemmi  Pass  to 
Zinal,  returning  by  Grimsel.  (27)  1896.  District  about  Splugen,  Bernardino, 
and  Lukmanier  Passes,  returning  by  the  St.  Gotthard.  (28)  1897.  Val  Piora 
and  Lower  Ilashthal.  (29)  1900.  Arolla ;  halts  in  Rhone  valley.  (30)  1901. 
Saas  district.  (31)  1902.  By  St.  Gotthard,  Orta,  and  Biella,  to  Val  d'Aoste  and 
Cogne,  returning  by  Little  St.  Bernard.  (32)  1903.  Val  d'Anniviers.  (33)  1905. 
Saas  district.  (34)  1907.  Saas  district  and  Val  d'Ossola.  (35)  191 1.  Airolo 
and  Grindelwald. 

In  the  course  of  these  travels  I  have  made,  not  reckoning  walks  without  any 
special  aim,  about  iio  definite  ascents,  65  of  them  up  to  or  above  10,000  feet, 
and  have  crossed,  almost  always  on  foot,  more  than  170  passes,  36  of  them  above 
that  altitude,  so  that,  as  my  ramblings  have  extended  from  the  Viso  to  the 
Salzkammergut,  I  may  claim  to  have  acquired  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  chain.  On 
some  of  these  journeys  I  was  alone  ;  on  four  I  was  with  near  relations,  who  could 
not  undertake  laborious  excursions  ;  in  more  than  half  I  fortunately  had  travelling 
companions.  Of  them,  I  regret  to  say,  death  has  deprived  me  of  W.  and  G.  S. 
Mathews,  R.  W.  Taylor,  and  E,  Walton  ;  but  there  still  remain  J.  C.  Hawkshaw, 
W.  G.  Adams,  J.  Parkinson,  J.  Eccles,  and  E.  Hill,  the  comrade  of  several 
journeys,  beginning  with  1880.  To  the  last-named  three  I  am  indebted  for  much 
help  in  working  out  geological  questions. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  my  papers  dealing  with  Alpine  physiographical  or 
petrological  questions ' : — 

On  the  Formation  of  Cirques.     Q.J.,  1871,  p.  312. 

Lakes  of  the  North-Eastern   Alps,   and   their  bearing  on   the  Glacier- 
Erosion  Theory.     Q.J.,  1873,  P-  382. 

Notes  on  the  Upper  Engadine  and  the  Italian  Valleys  of  Monte  Rosa,  &c. 
Q.J.,  1874,  p.  479. 

Some  Notes  on  Glaciers.     G.M.,  1876,  p.  197. 

On  Mr.   Helland's  Theory  of  the  Formation  of  Cirques.     G.M.,   1877, 
p.  273. 

On  some  specimens  of  Gabbro  trom  the  Pennine  Alps.     M.M.,  1879,  p.  5. 

On  some  Serpentines  from  the  Rhaetian  Alps.     G.M.,  1880,  p.  538. 

On  a  supposed  case  of  Metamorphism  in  an  Alpine  rock  of  Carboniferous 
Age.     G.M.,  1883,  p.  507. 

Note  on  the  Nagelflue  of  the  Rigi  and  Rossberg.     G.M.,  1883,  p.  511. 

«  The  following  abbreviations  are  used  in  the  references  :— A.J.  =  Alpine  Journal.  B.A,  = 
British  Association.  G.J.  =  Geographical  Journal.  G.M.  =  Geological  Magazine.  M.M.  = 
Mineralogical  Magazine.  G.A.  =  Geologists'  Association  Proceedings.  P.M.  =  Philosophical 
Magazine.    Q.J.  =  Quarterly  Journal  of  Geological  Society.    (Some  of  the  titles  are  condensed.) 

376 


Appendix  I 


Presidential  Address  to  Geological  Society.     Q.J.,  1886,  p.  49  (proc). 

On  a  Glaucophane  Eclogite  from  the  Val  d'Aoste.     M.M.,  1887,  p.  i. 

On  a  variety  of  Glaucophane  from  the  Val  Chisone.     M.M.,  1887,  p.  191. 

Origin  of  Banded  Gneisses.     G.M.,  1887,  p.  573. 

Rounding  of  Pebbles  by  Alpine  Rivers.     G.M.,  1888,  p.  54. 

Notes  on  two  Traverses  of  the  Crystalline  Rocks  of  the  Alps.  Q.J., 
1889,  p.  67. 

On  the  Crystalline  Schists  and  their  Relation  to  the  Mesozoic  Rocks  in 
the  Alps.     Q.J.,  1890,  p.  187. 

The  Effects  of  Pressure  on  Crystalline  Limestones.     G.M.,  1889,  p.  483. 

Note  on  the  Effect  of  Pressure  upon  Serpentine  in  the  Pennine  Alps. 
G.M.,  1890,  p.  533. 

Petrological  Notes  on  the  Euphotide  of  the  Saas-thal.     P.M.,  1892,  p.  237. 

Growth  and  Sculpture  of  the  Alps.     A.J.,  vol.  xiv.,  pp.  38,  105,  221. 

On  the  so-called  Gneiss  of  Carboniferous  Age  at  Guttannen.  Q.J.)  1892, 
p.  390. 

Do  Glaciers  Excavate?     G.J.,  1893,  p.  481. 

Note  on  the  Nufenenstock.     Q.J.,  1893,  p.  89. 

On  some  Schistose  Greenstones  and  Allied  Hornblende  Schists.  QJ-, 
p.  94. 

On  a  Secondary  Development  of  Biotite  and  Hornblende  in  Crystalline 
Schists,  &c.     Q.J.,  p.  104. 

On  some  Quartz-schists  from  the  Alps.     G.M.,  1893,  P-  204. 

Some  cases  of  the  Conversion  of  Compact  Greenstones  into  Schists. 
Q.J.,  1894,  p.  279. 

Mesozoic  Rocks  and  Crystalline  Schists  in  the  Lepontine  Alps.  Q.J., 
1894,  p.  285. 

Some  Notes  on  Gneiss.     G.M.,  1894,  p.  114. 

On  an  Alpine  Nickel-bearing  Serpentine  with  Fulgurites.  Q.J.,  1896, 
p.  452  (with  E.  Aston). 

On  a  Pebbly  Quartz-schist  from  the  Val  d'Anniviers.     G.M.,  1896,  p.  400. 

The  Kirchet  and  its  Critics.     A. J.,  1897,  p.  29, 

Additional  Note  on  Sections  near  Summit  of  Furka  Pass.  Q.J.,  1897, 
p.  16. 

Note  on  an  Ovenstone  (Talcose-schist)  from  near  Zinal.  G.M.,  1897, 
p.  no. 

Outline  of  Petrology  and  Physical  History  of  the  Alps.     G.A.,  1897,  p.  i. 

Garnet-actinolite  Schists  on  Southern  Side  of  the  St.  Gotthard  Pass. 
Q.J.,  1898,  p.  357. 

Some  small  Lake-basins  in  the  Lepontine  Alps.     G.M.,  1898,  p.  15. 

Plant-stems  in  the  Guttannen  Gneiss.     G.M.,  1900,  p.  215. 

Schists  in  the  Lepontine  Alps.     G.M.,  1901,  p.  161. 

Alpine  Valleys  in  Relation  to  Glaciers.     Q.J.,  1902,  p.  185. 

Moraines  and  Mud-streams  in  the  Alps.     G.M.,  1902,  p.  8. 

The  Magnetite  Mines  near  Cogne.     Q-J-,  1903,  p.  55. 

Microscopic  Structure  of  Serpentine-forming  Minerals,  &c.  (including 
Alpine).     Q.J.,  1905,  p.  690  (with  Dr.  C  A.  Raisin). 

Southern  Origin  of  Northern  Zone  of  Savoy  Alps.     Q.J.,  1907,  p.  294. 

Antigorite  and  the  Val  Antigorio.     QJ.,  1908,  p.  152. 

Presidential  Address  (on  Icework).     B.A.,  191 1,  p.  3. 

377 


APPENDIX   II 

Notes  on  the  Full-page  Illustrations 

1.  (Frontispiece).     Crags  of  the  Galenstock.     From  the  Galen-sattel.     A  view 

from  the  Oberland  to  illustrate  the  splintered  character  of  the  Slaty 
Crystallines.     See  pages  93-96. 

2.  Mont  Blanc  and  Aiguilles  des  Charmoz.     A  characteristic  illustration  of  the 

scenery  of  the  Slaty  Crystallines  (protogine  more  or  less  fissile).  See 
page  93- 

3.  Dolomite  Peaks  from  the  Marmolata.    The  Antelao  is  on  the  left ;  in  the 

centre  (nearer)  the  Civetta ;  on  the  right  the  Pelmo.  Illustrates  the 
scenery  of  this  variety  (Dachstein  Dolomite)  of  the  Compact  Coherents. 
See  pages  23,  99. 

4.  View  from    Froppa    Glacier,    Marmarola.     Another    characteristic    view   of 

Dolomite  Peaks.     Page  102. 

5.  Northern   side   of  Aiguilles   des   Charmoz.     This  point  of  view  brings  out 

even  more  strongly  the  splintered  aspect  of  the  Slaty  Crystallines.  See 
pages  93-96. 

6.  The   Wetterhorn  near   Grindelwald.     A  very   characteristic  example  of  the 

scenery  of  the  Compact  Coherents  (limestone).     See  page  81. 

7.  The  Cinque  Torre.     The  Dolomite  rock  in  a  far  stage  of  ruin.     See  page 

1 01,  where  the  woodcut  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  myself  in  1867. 

8.  The   Drei    Zinnen.     One   of   the  most    striking   examples  of    the   "ruined 

fortress  "  character  of  this  variety  (Dachstein  Dolomite)  of  the  Compact 
Coherents.     See  page  100. 

9.  Bergschrund  of  a  glacier.     A  very  characteristic  example  from  near  the  Col 

du  Geant.     Pages  106,  134. 

10.  Upper  snowfields  of  the  Ortler.     Shows  the  bergschrund  at  the  foot  of  the 

steep  snowslopes  which  rest  on  the  ridges  of  rock.  The  track  of  the 
travellers  can  be  seen  rather  below  it.  If  my  memory  is  correct  (after 
forty-five  years)  the  summit  of  the  Otler  appears  on  the  right.  See 
page  106,  III. 

11.  Icefall  of  the  Rhone  Glacier.     The  view  is  taken  from  the  Furka  Road  and 

includes  a  considerable  part  of  the  glacier.     See  page  139. 

12.  Moraines  of  the  Ober  Aletsch  Glacier  from  the  Sparrenhorn.     In  this  view 

the  medial  moraines  are  very  distinct.     See  page  140. 

13.  Gorge  of  the  Trient.     Illustrates  the  gorges  common  in  the  rocky  steps  ot 

**  hanging  "  valleys.  This  is  cut  in  the  gneiss,  and  opens  into  the  Rhone 
Valley  at  Vernayaz.  Note  the  potholes  on  the  walls  of  the  gorge.  See 
page  187. 

14.  Crevasses  on  a  glacier.    A  characteristic  view  of  the  crevasses  on  a  broken 

378 


Appendix  II 


part  of  a  glacier  (probably  the  Corner)  rather  below  the  snow-line.  See 
page  139. 

15.  Moraines  of  the  Gross  Aletsch  Glacier.    The  view  is  from  the  Belalp.     One 

medial  moraine  is  very  conspicuous,  and  we  can  note  the  gradual  dis- 
persion of  other  and  smaller  by  the  formation  of  crevasses  nearer  the 
side.     See  page  140. 

16.  A  glacier  table.    A  large  boulder  supported  by  a  pedestal  of  ice.     The 

bystander  will  serve  as  a  scale.     See  page  143. 

17.  Pierre-a-bot,  near  Neuchatel.     An  erratic  from  the  Mont  Blanc  range.     See 

page  144. 

18.  Dirt-bands  on  a  glacier,  Mer  de  Glace.     See  page  146. 

19.  The  Glacier  Garden,  Lucerne.     Great  potholes  "Giants'  Kettles,"  the  relics 

of  moulins  of  a  vanished  glacier.     See  page  147. 

20.  End  of  Pre  de  Bar  Glacier.     This  glacier  is  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Mont 

Blanc  range  near  its  eastern  end  (Col  Dolent).  The  photograph  illus- 
trates the  lobe-like  outline  assumed  by  the  end  of  a  glacier  when  free 
from  obstacles.     See  page  141. 

21.  View  down  the  Saasthal.     The  photograph  was  taken  looking  down  on  Saas 

Grund  from  an  alp  near  the  path  between  Saas  Fee  and  Almagell.  It 
shows  the  steep  slopes  characteristic  of  the  lower  part  of  the  valley  and 
the  gentler  curves  of  the  upper  parts.     See  page  186. 

22.  Ice-worn  rocks  near  the  Grimsel.     This  ice-worn  buttress  of  gneiss,  on  the 

left  bank  of  the  Aar,  a  short  distance  below  the  Grimsel  Hospice,  is 
the  finest  example  of  a  Roche  Moutonnie  which  I  have  seen  in  the  Alps. 
See  pages  148,  187. 

23.  Lago  Ritom.     In  the  Val  Piora,  Lepontine  Alps.     A  characteristic  view  of 

one  of  the  small  and  high-lying  Alpine  lakes.  The  step  at  the  head  is 
mentioned  page  194.     See  pages  182,  194. 

24.  Val  Tournanche,  uppermost  part.     The  view  gives  a  good  idea  of  the  rather 

flat  step  or  "basin"  not  uncommon  towards  the  head  of  some  of  the 
Alpine  valleys.     See  page  186. 

25.  Avalanche  on  the  Wetterhorn.     This  view,  taken  on  the  way  to  the  Great 

Scheidegg  from  Grindelwald,  represents  one  of  the  comparatively  small 
avalanches  which  may  be  seen  on  this  mountain  and  still  more  fre- 
quently on  the  Jungfrau.  The  avalanche,  about  the  middle  of  the  cliffs, 
looks  like  a  small  waterfall.     See  page  221. 

26.  The  Marjelen  See.     The  photograph  was  taken  about  four  years  ago.     See 

page  229. 

27.  St.  Cyprian  and  the  Rosengarten  group.     This  sketch  by  Mr.  E.  T.  Compton 

represents  a  characteristic  piece  of  valley,  village,  and  mountain  scenery 
in  the  Dolomites. 

28.  A  street  in  Zermatt.     A  very  characteristic  view  in  one  of  the  log-built  alpine 

villages.  The  porch  of  the  church  is  visible  down  the  street.  From 
a  sketch  by  Mr.  Joseph  Pennell.     See  page  337. 

29.  Before  the  Hotel  Mont  Rose,  Zermatt.     On  the  left  is  the  well-known  wall 

bounding  "  The  Club  Room  of  Zermatt,"  drawn  by  E.  Whymper  in  1864 
("Scrambles  amongst  the  Alps,"  page  264,  where  many  of  the  best- 
known  climbers  of  that  day  are  introduced).     See  page  357. 

30.  On  a  snow  arete.    Climbers  crossing  the  head  of  a  couloir  just  below  an  ar^te. 

See  page  367. 

379 


Appendix  II 


31.  A  mountain  hut.    The  photographs  represent  (i)  The  outside.     (2)  The  inside 

of  one  of  the  little  mountain  huts,  often  more  than  8,000  feet  above  sea- 
level,  for  which  climbers  are  largely  indebted  to  foreign  Alpine  Clubs. 
Page  364. 

32.  On  steep  rocks.     Another  incident  in  mountain  climbing.     Page  367. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  the  following  friends  for  photographs  repro- 
duced in  this  volume.  For  i  (Frontispiece),  11,  17,  21,  26  to  Mr.  J.  J.  Lister, 
F.R.S. ;  for  5,  9,  12,  13,  16,  18,  19,  20  to  Dr.  Tempest  Anderson,  F.G.S.  ;  for  6 
to  the  Rev.  T.  C.  Fitzpatrick,  President  ot  Queens'  College,  Cambridge  ;  for  22 
to  Mr.  J.  Eccles,  F.G.S.  (and  to  Messrs.  Kegan  Paul  &  Co.  for  a  cliche  of 
the  block)  ;  for  23  to  Prof.  E.  J.  Garwood.  I  have  also  to  thank  Mr.  E.  T. 
Compton  for  illustration  27  ;  Mrs.  Aubrey  Le  Blond  for  10,  14,  15,  25,  31  ;  and 
Mr.  T.  Fisher  Unwin  for  2,  3,  4,  7,  8,  24,  28,  29,  30,  32. 


380 


INDEX 


Adamello,  92 

Adige  (Etsch),  161 

After-glow,  250 

Agriculture,  333-5 

Aletsch  glacier,  108,  229 

AlgK,  274 

Alpine    Club,   English,    359;    Swiss, 

363  ;  French,  363  ;  German,  363 
Alpine  Journal,  cited,   138,  168,    222, 

224,  230,  245,  254,  281,  313,  363 
Altels,  avalanche  from  the,  223 
Androsace  {A.  helvetica)^  264 
Anemone  {A.  sulfurea ;  A.  manfana), 

261  ;  A.  Halleri,  262 
Asbestos,  216 
Architecture,  337-8 
Atmosphere,    rarity     of,     235,     239 ; 

transparency  of,  248,  251  ;  aqueous 

vapour  in,  250 
Augen-gneiss,  16,  27,  32 
Austrians  engage  French  and  Russians, 

320-2 
Avalanches,  "dust,"  219;  "ground," 

219-20 ;   ice,  221-4  ;  rock,   224-7  ; 

mud,  227 

Baedeker's  Guide,  cited,   235,  345, 

352,  365 
Baillie-Grohman,  cited,  284,  286,  289 
Ball's  "Alpine  Guide,"  cited,  108,  109, 

n6,   123,  124,  127,  128,  205,  276, 

314 
Barbery  [Berberis  vulgaris)  ^  258 
Barriers  of  rock,  197-9 
Basaltic  rock,  41 
Bears,  276 
Beavers,  278 


Bern,    Geological    Museum,   59,    60; 

changes  in  town,  355 
Bilberry  ( Vaccinium  myrtillus)y  258 
Birds  of    prey,   290-2 ;    game    birds, 

293-4  ;  smaller  birds,  294-5 
Bernard,  Great  St.,  morgue  on,  317; 

see  Passes 
Bernard,  Little  St.,  see  Passes 
Boner,  Charles,  cited,  281 
Botzen,  Dolomite  mountains  near,  43  ; 

earth-pillars  near,  203 
Breccias,  21,  48-50 
Browne,  Rt.  Rev.  G.  F.,  on  Glacieres, 

cited,  207 
Butterflies,  300-2 

Calvin,  116 

Campion  {Ljfchnis)^  259,  262 

Caves,  206-9 

Chamois,  280-7 

Chestnut,  Spanish,  258 

Charpentier,  De,  cited,  136,  143,  144 

Chlorite,  216 

Chough,  292 

Cirque,  173,  180,  182-3,  190,  194 

Climbers  and  Climbing,  366-7 

Clouds,  240-3 

Clover  {TrifoHum),  259 

Coherents,  compact  and  slaty,  90,  96 

Columbine    {Aquilegia    atraXa),    259 ; 

{A.  alpind)^  2.(i\ 
Compact  coherents,  90,  96  ;   compact 

crystallines,  88,  91,  92 
Conway,  Sir  Martin,  cited,  228 
Coolidge,  W.  A.   B.,  cited,   no,   114, 

276,  291,  312,  3x5,  327,  331,  333 
Copper,  215 

381 


Index 


Coral  formations,  42,  43,  47 
Corrie,  see  Cirque 

Cowberry  ( Vaccinium  vitis-tdeBa)^  258 
Cretaceous  rocks,  45 
Carboniferous  rocks,  distribution  of,  21, 
36 ;  composition  of,  37 ;  where  found, 

85 

Crystalline  rocks,  12,  27,  79,  85  ;  com- 
pact, 88  ;  slaty,  89 

Cultivation,  line  of,  257 

Crystalline  schists,  35,  56-68 

Cyclamen,  259 

Dauphine,  86,  94 

Denudation  by  glaciers,    178-9,    186 ; 

by  rivers,    179,   185,   190,    191 ;   by 

avalanches,  219 
Devil's  Bridge,  348 
"  Dip  "  and  "  Strike  "  valleys,  154 
Dirt-bands  on  glaciers,  146 
Dolomites,  22-3,  42,  43,  96-102 

Earth-pillars,  203-5,  227 
Edelweiss,  263-4 
Elder  [Sambzicus  ebulus)^  258 
Elm,  landslip  at,  226 
Eocene  rocks,  46,  52 
Eritrichium  nanum^  265 

Faulting  (overthrust),  81-5 

Fee  Glacier,  117,  186 

Felspar,  29,  218 

Ferns,  270-2 

Fish,  297-9 

Floods,  229-32 

Flora,  true  Alpine,  260,  261 

Flysch,  24,  46,  47,  48,  49 

Fohn,  247 

Folding,  74,  79-84 

Foliation,  14-17,  199 

Forbes,  J.  D.,  cited,  107,  135,  146 

Fossils  at  Col  d'Anterne,  21  ;  in  the 
Flysch,  24,  in  Silurian  rock,  36 ; 
Carboniferous,  36,  37,  61  ;  Cretace- 
ous, 46,  48;  Miocene,  52,  54;  sup- 
posed, at  Guttannen,  59 

Foxes,  277 

Foxglove  {Digitalis  lutea)^  259 


Gabbro,  92 

Galize,  Co  de  la,  crossed  in  sixteenth 
century,  128 

Garnets,  30,  64,  217 

Garwood,  Prof.,  cited,    191,  193,  199, 
200,  201 

Geikie,  Prof.  J.,  cited,  142 

Gentians,  258,  262,  265 

Geum,  262 

Gilbert  and   Churchill   (quoted),  lOO, 
102 

Glaciers,  Bernina  group,  1 1 1 
Oberland  group,  113 
Pennine  group,  115 
Confluence  of,  119 
Mont  Blanc  group,  122,  125 
Graian  group,  126 
Dauphine  group,  130 
formation  of,  134 
veined  structure  of,  134-5 
motion  of,  136-8 
mean  movement  of,  138 
retreat  of,  149,  157 
erosive  agency  of,  178-9,  202 
as  dams,  229 
See  also  Moraines 

Glacier  generating  line,  109 

Glacieres,  207-10 

Glacial  age,  149,  179,  192 

Glacier  ice,  plastic  nature  of,  138 

Gneiss,  13,   14,  28;  origin  of,   18,20, 

29,  35 
Gold,  214 
Golden     ball     {Trollius     Europceus), 

260 
Grand  Combin,  122,  361 
Grass  of  Parnassus,  259 
Green  schists,  31,  32 
Grindelwald,  Lower  Glacier  of,  189 
Guttannen,  supposed  fossils  at,  59-61 

Habkerenthal,  48-9 

Hanging  valleys,  166 

Hannibal's  passage  of  the  Alps,  312-13 

Hare,  278 

Harebell  (Campanula)^  259 

HippuriteSy  46 

382 


Index 


Hornblende,  31,  32,  216 
Hotels,  352 

Inn,  river,  159,  167  ;  valley  of,  169 
Insects,  303-7 
Iron  mines,  215 

Johnson,  W.  D.,  cited,  181 
Jurassic  rocks,  23,  43,  82 

"  Knot  and  prism  "  rocks,  67-8 
Kyanite,  217 

Lady's  slipper  {Cypripedium  calceola)^ 

259 

Lake-dwellings,  309 

Lakes,  formation  of,  200-2,  228  ;  sub- 
glacial,  230  ;  colour  of  water,  249  ; 
storms  on,  250 

Landslips,  224-7 

Languages  spoken  in  Alps,  330-1 

Larkspur  {Delphinium  alpinum)^  259 

Lavas,  40 

Lichens,  273 

Lily,  martagon,  260;  St.  Bruno's, ''260 

Limestone  rocks,  24,  81,  82,  186,  187 

Lugeon,  Prof.,  82,  83 

Macugnaga,  117 
Manufactures,  332 
Marine  conditions  on  site  of  Alps,  36, 

42,  44 
Marine  beds,  252 
Marjelen  See,  229 
Marmot,  279 
Matterhorn,  96,  119,  177 
Meije,  82 

Mesozoic  rocks,  22 
Meteorological  observations,  234 
Mica  schists,  14,  28 
Minerals,  214-18 
Miocene  rocks,  52-5,  159;  Alps,  178, 

196 ;  fauna  of  Miocene  tge,  54 
Mistletoe,  on  firs,  268 
Molluscs,  300 

Monkshood  {Aconitum  napellus)^  258 
Monro,  Dr.,  cited,  309 


Mont  Blanc,  87  ;  observatory  on,  235 

Mont  Collon,  92 

Mont  Iseran,  a  pass,  128 

Monte  Viso,  176 

Moraines,  lateral,  140 ;  terminal,  14O-2; 

ground,  145  ;  Dora  Baltea,  142 
Mosses,  273 

Mosso,  Dr.  A.,  cited,  234 
Moths,  302 
MoulinSf  147 
Mountain-sickness,  236,  238-40 

Nagelfluhe,  25,  53,  96,  192 
Napoleon,  318,  322 
Narcissus,  260 
Neocomian  system,  24,  45 
Neolithic  man,  308,  330 
Nummulites,  47 

Obergestelen,  221 
Oligocene  period,  24  (note) 
Olivine,  33,  35,  215 
Otters,  278 

Passes,  chief— Mont  Genevre,  315; 
Mont  Cenis,  315  ;  Little  St.  Bernard, 
316  ;  Great  St.  Bernard,  317;  Monte 
Moro,  317  ;  Antrona,  317  ;  Simplon, 
318  ;  Gemmi,  318  ;  Grimsel,  318  ; 
Furka,  318  ;  St.  Gotthard,  319  ;  Luk- 
manier,  322 ;  San  Bernardino,  322  ; 
Splugen,  323;  Septimer,  323;  Arl- 
berg,  324 ;  Fluela,  324 ;  Albula,  324  ; 
Julier,  324-5  ;  Bernina,  325  ;  Maloja, 
159,  167,  325  ;  Stelvio,  326  ;  Brenner, 
73 >  176,  327 ;  Ampezzo,  171,  328 

Peasantry,  335-9 

Penck  and  Brlickner,  cited,  149,  165, 
185,  192 

*'  Perched  blocks,"  143-4 

Permian  rocks,  22 

Persicaria,  259 

Phyllites,  61,  69 

Piedmontite,  217 

Pliocene  rocks,  55  ;  age,  196 

"  Plucking,"  181 

Primula,  260 


383 


Index 


Quartz,  30,  218 

Railways,  343-6 

Rainfall,  252 

Ramsay,  Sir  A.,  cited,  179,  2CX) 

Randa,  222 

Ranunculus,  261,  265 

Rauchwacke,  41,  64 

Rhododendron,  260 

Rigi,  53.  96 

Ritom,  Lago,  182,  194 

Roche  Melon,  shrine  on,  129  j  struck 

by  lightning,  245 
Roman  remains,  314,  325 
Rossberg,  225 
Rubus  saxatilisy  258 
Ruskin,  cited,  90,  199,  240,  260,  266, 

273 

Saas,  186 

Sallow-thorn   (Hippophce    rhamnoides)^ 

258 
**  Sapping,"  180 

Saussure,  De,  124,  137,  234,  287,  306 
Saxifrages,  259,  265 
Sedum,  259,  260 
Seracs,  125,  139,  221 
Serpentine,  33-4,  215 
Silene  acaulis^  2.(iT,^  i(i^ 
Silurian  rocks,  where  found  in  Alps, 

21,  35  ;  composition,  36 
Silver,  214 
Sky,  colour  of,  249 
Slaty  coherents,  90 ;  id.  crystalluies,  21, 

89,93 
Snakes,  295-7 
Snow-line,  103-5,  195 
Sollas,  Prof.,  experiments  of,  145 
Springs,  mineral,  211-14 
Squirrel,  278 


Stag,  280 

Steinbock  (Capra  idex),  287-90 
Steps  in  valleys,  191-9 
Strawberry,  258 

Table,  Glacier,  143 

Talc-schist,  216 

Temperature  in  Pliocene  period,  195  ; 

in  Ice  Age,  192 
Thrust-faulting,  81,  84 
Thunderstorms,  243-6 
Thyme,  259 
Titian,  102 

Toblacher  Plateau,  170 
Trees,  266-9 
Triassic  rocks,  40-42 
Tschudi,  cited,  277,  291 
Tuckett,  F.  F.,  cited,  245 
Tunnels,   Mont  Cenis,  316,   344;    St. 

Gotthard,  319,  344;  Simplon,   317, 

344 ;  Albula,  345 
Tyndall,  on  glaciers,  135,  137,  146, 163, 

250,  253 

Valleys,  formation  of,  163-6,  168 
Vaudois,  207,331,  338 
Verrucano,  22,  39 
Villages,  337 
Vine,  257-8 

Wallenstadt,  Lake,  Mountains  south 

of,  80 
Watershed  of  the  Alps,  78,  84,  86,  1 18  ; 

of  the  Cottian  Alps,   156 ;    of  the 

Pennine  Alps,  174 
Weisshorn,  177 
Wetterhorn,  189 

Whymper,  E.,  cited,  205,  316,  350 
Winter  sports,  368-9 
Wolves,  277 


UNWIN  BBOTHEBS.  lilMITED.  THE  OBEBHAH  PBEB8.  WOSINa  ASD  ZiONDOH. 


IAN  29   1948 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


AUTO.  OJSC. 
m  05 1988 


13Dec'52CR    |      CtnCUlAtlON 

0EC1519521U 


CIPCULATION  DEPT. 


JUN241989 


LD  21-100m-9,'47(A57028l6)476 


ru   oojib 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


CD0SSb777E 


266833 


